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Author Topic:   Greatest Game Designer of All Time

Hugo Rune posted 06-30-99 04:46 PM ET
Who is it?
The answers might surprise you...
JohnIII posted 06-30-99 04:48 PM ET
Jon Romero? John Carmack? Peter Molyneux? Sid Meier? Lawrence Holland?
John III
JohnIII posted 06-30-99 04:53 PM ET
Nolan Bushnell?
John III
Ambro2000 posted 06-30-99 04:59 PM ET

TIM SCHAFER?????
Ambro2000
JohnIII posted 06-30-99 05:01 PM ET
Shut up you adventure game fan. Ron Gilbert!
John III
umbra1 posted 06-30-99 05:04 PM ET
Shigeru Miyamoto... The GOD of game design
I guess Sid Meier isn't to bad either.
Valtyr posted 06-30-99 05:49 PM ET
The Russian who invented Tetris? I hope not...
umbra1 posted 06-30-99 06:08 PM ET
Nope, the he's the guy who inventend Mario and Zelda, to name afew...
Valtyr posted 06-30-99 07:16 PM ET
umbra1: I didn't refer to the guy in your post, I just took a guess to who would be the "Greatest Game Designer of All Time". Obviously I don't think that a guy named Shigeru Miyamoto is a Russian!
Ambro2000 posted 06-30-99 07:33 PM ET
He could be a monglolian russian
Ambro2000
Hugo Rune posted 07-01-99 02:18 AM ET
I have to side with the Shiggy Moto crowd here... He singlehandedly invented the modern arcade game with Donkey Kong, The whole platform genre with Mario and the action RPG with Zelda.
I don't really consider Sid to be such a great designer. So he designed one great game (Civ), so what? I hate all his other games... Not even Civ was very good, as it suffered greatly from a very steep learning curve (Something which plagues all of sid's games, btw) and being extremely hard to get into. The first game with sid's name on it (not a real Sid Meier game, mind you) which I really bothered to go on with after the first hour or so was Civ2.
jig posted 07-01-99 05:27 AM ET
The greatest game designer of all time is me, of course but I forgive you all for not picking that up since none of you can forsee the future.
MikeH II posted 07-01-99 07:47 AM ET
Hugo, Have you played Pirates? That is what I call a game.
Greatest designer of all time?
Don't know.
SnowFire posted 07-01-99 09:49 AM ET
I gotta give Miyamoto Zelda- fantastic game. However, Civ wasn't SM's only game, HR, don't forget Pirates!, Railroad Tycoon, Colonization! (actually that was more BR, but...)...
Alexi Patnov or something like that is Tetris.
So... who is it? I assume you got this from some magazine or something...
Domk27 posted 07-01-99 10:02 AM ET
The parker brothers for inventing monopoly
Hugo Rune posted 07-01-99 10:24 AM ET
I've never played Pirates!, but I'm told it's a rather crappy action-adventure, with no humor or personality.
The king of pirate games is Ron Gilbert...
Railroad Tycoon is boring and overcomplicated, and has a too steep learning curve. F15 Strike Eagle is passable- Flight Sims suck, anyway. As for SMG!... Now that's an absolute pig of a game.
Valtyr posted 07-01-99 01:40 PM ET
Ambro: Mongolians don't have Japanese names .
Ambro2000 posted 07-01-99 07:31 PM ET
Hugo: It depends on when you play/played Pirates. For its time it was a hell of a game! One of the greatest! I played it for months. But given todays standards it wouldn't ofcourse be very good....
Valtyr: How do you tell the differens between a Japanese name and a Chinese/mongolian name??

Ambro2000
Hugo Rune posted 07-02-99 06:41 AM ET
How do you tell the difference between a swedish and a Norwegian name?
SnowFire posted 07-02-99 07:05 AM ET
Railroad Tycoon overcomplicated? Unless you call learning about the history of trains complicated (and you don't have to do that), no. Of course, my Amiga RRT was soooo much prettier and more fun than the IBM version, so maybe the problem's there...
DerekM posted 07-02-99 08:23 AM ET
Abner Doubleday.
Hugo Rune, stop knocking Sid. You think you're some kind of tuff-guy?
Ambro2000 posted 07-02-99 11:39 AM ET
All Norwegian names sounds pretty funny - Tore Andre Floo, Heinar Steggen, Skjetil Rodal etc etc
Yes I know that I spelled them wrong Valtyr...

Raven of Despair posted 07-02-99 01:37 PM ET
Hugo, I have to seriously disagree with your statements.
Firstly, if you have not played Pirates! you cannot really comment on it. It was alot of fun, and I got more hours out of it than SMAC. Yes, by today's standards it may not stack up, but it came out in 1987. Pirates! Gold, on the other hand, was just a update. I wish that more had been done with it.
I also completely disagree with you about SMG! That game is wonderful. I play it regularly.
I also like the learning curve level in Civ. I found the basic gameplay elements easy to learn. The startegy itself (the manual was lost) was a longer, but very fun, process.
Never played Railroad Tycoon, so I can't comment.
I will put Sid Meier's name down for greatest game designer, but that is my opinion. I loved Civ/Civ II, but I fervently hope that CivIII will be a fresher design.
Valtyr posted 07-02-99 04:28 PM ET
Ambro: Look who's talking, Ambrosius !
Trappist posted 07-02-99 04:34 PM ET
The bloke who invented blow jobs has to feature high in the list, whoever he was.
Trappist posted 07-02-99 04:36 PM ET
Hugo- did you really think that the learning curve in Meier games is too steep? I'd say they are perfectly weighted- the learning process is one of the best bits.
jig posted 07-03-99 01:10 AM ET
Trappist, he did not invent, he discovered. There's a big difference.
JohnIII posted 07-03-99 03:34 AM ET
Definetly:
Larry Holland (X-Wing, TIE Fighter, etc.)
Shigeru Miyamoto (Mario, Zelda, etc.)
Jon Romero and/or John Carmack (Wolf 3D, Doom, Quake, etc.)
or
Peter Molyneux (Populous, Magic Carpet, etc.)
John III
Philip McCauley posted 07-04-99 12:46 AM ET
The guy who invented BJ's was Grrrraaag, the cousin of the guy who invented fire. The idea came up when someone asked, "So how we keep warm when fire go out?"
Ambro2000 posted 07-04-99 07:59 AM ET
Aouch! You got me there Valtyr
Ambro2000
Darksider posted 07-06-99 09:20 PM ET

It has to be the guy who developed Half-Life.
Brilliant game using an old engine and loads of new features pushing the genre forward.
JohnIII posted 07-07-99 01:13 PM ET
Gabe Newell? He is the founder of Valve, although I don't know if he was credited as "designer".
John III
Picker posted 07-07-99 01:23 PM ET
Kou Shibusawa
White_Cat posted 07-08-99 05:21 AM ET
Lawrence! It's Lawrence Holland, not Larry! Grrr....
- White Cat, who will probably be made to look like a complete idiot by someone telling him that Larry is a nickname for Lawrence, like Dick is for Richard.
CrayonX posted 07-09-99 03:30 AM ET
Either Miyamoto or Will Wright (SimCity series). Also, didn't Brian Reynolds AND Sid Meier corraborate on the Civ games? And wasn't Sid just a consultant on CivII and SMAC while Brian did most of the designing?
(Credit where credit is due).
Am I the only one eagerly anticipating "The Sims"?
SnowFire posted 07-09-99 08:43 AM ET
But it was Sid Meier and Bruce Shelly on CivI, CrayonX. Interestingly enough, Shelly was succesful enough based on that credit to go out on his own and make Age of Empires, which interestingly enough was entitled "Age of Civilization" before Microprose suggested a better name might be more appropriate. Politely of course.
Too bad Age of Empires was only WarCraft in prettier graphics, it could have really moved the genre forward if it hadn't.
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Author	Topic: Greatest Game Designer of All Time
Hugo Rune	posted 06-30-99 04:46 PM ET Who is it? The answers might surprise you...
JohnIII	posted 06-30-99 04:48 PM ET Jon Romero? John Carmack? Peter Molyneux? Sid Meier? Lawrence Holland? John III
JohnIII	posted 06-30-99 04:53 PM ET Nolan Bushnell? John III
Ambro2000	posted 06-30-99 04:59 PM ET TIM SCHAFER????? Ambro2000
JohnIII	posted 06-30-99 05:01 PM ET Shut up you adventure game fan. Ron Gilbert! John III
umbra1	posted 06-30-99 05:04 PM ET Shigeru Miyamoto... The GOD of game design I guess Sid Meier isn't to bad either.
Valtyr	posted 06-30-99 05:49 PM ET The Russian who invented Tetris? I hope not...
umbra1	posted 06-30-99 06:08 PM ET Nope, the he's the guy who inventend Mario and Zelda, to name afew...
Valtyr	posted 06-30-99 07:16 PM ET umbra1: I didn't refer to the guy in your post, I just took a guess to who would be the "Greatest Game Designer of All Time". Obviously I don't think that a guy named Shigeru Miyamoto is a Russian!
Ambro2000	posted 06-30-99 07:33 PM ET He could be a monglolian russian Ambro2000
Hugo Rune	posted 07-01-99 02:18 AM ET I have to side with the Shiggy Moto crowd here... He singlehandedly invented the modern arcade game with Donkey Kong, The whole platform genre with Mario and the action RPG with Zelda. I don't really consider Sid to be such a great designer. So he designed one great game (Civ), so what? I hate all his other games... Not even Civ was very good, as it suffered greatly from a very steep learning curve (Something which plagues all of sid's games, btw) and being extremely hard to get into. The first game with sid's name on it (not a real Sid Meier game, mind you) which I really bothered to go on with after the first hour or so was Civ2.
jig	posted 07-01-99 05:27 AM ET The greatest game designer of all time is me, of course but I forgive you all for not picking that up since none of you can forsee the future.
MikeH II	posted 07-01-99 07:47 AM ET Hugo, Have you played Pirates? That is what I call a game. Greatest designer of all time? Don't know.
SnowFire	posted 07-01-99 09:49 AM ET I gotta give Miyamoto Zelda- fantastic game. However, Civ wasn't SM's only game, HR, don't forget Pirates!, Railroad Tycoon, Colonization! (actually that was more BR, but...)... Alexi Patnov or something like that is Tetris. So... who is it? I assume you got this from some magazine or something...
Domk27	posted 07-01-99 10:02 AM ET The parker brothers for inventing monopoly
Hugo Rune	posted 07-01-99 10:24 AM ET I've never played Pirates!, but I'm told it's a rather crappy action-adventure, with no humor or personality. The king of pirate games is Ron Gilbert... Railroad Tycoon is boring and overcomplicated, and has a too steep learning curve. F15 Strike Eagle is passable- Flight Sims suck, anyway. As for SMG!... Now that's an absolute pig of a game.
Valtyr	posted 07-01-99 01:40 PM ET Ambro: Mongolians don't have Japanese names .
Ambro2000	posted 07-01-99 07:31 PM ET Hugo: It depends on when you play/played Pirates. For its time it was a hell of a game! One of the greatest! I played it for months. But given todays standards it wouldn't ofcourse be very good.... Valtyr: How do you tell the differens between a Japanese name and a Chinese/mongolian name?? Ambro2000
Hugo Rune	posted 07-02-99 06:41 AM ET How do you tell the difference between a swedish and a Norwegian name?
SnowFire	posted 07-02-99 07:05 AM ET Railroad Tycoon overcomplicated? Unless you call learning about the history of trains complicated (and you don't have to do that), no. Of course, my Amiga RRT was soooo much prettier and more fun than the IBM version, so maybe the problem's there...
DerekM	posted 07-02-99 08:23 AM ET Abner Doubleday. Hugo Rune, stop knocking Sid. You think you're some kind of tuff-guy?
Ambro2000	posted 07-02-99 11:39 AM ET All Norwegian names sounds pretty funny - Tore Andre Floo, Heinar Steggen, Skjetil Rodal etc etc Yes I know that I spelled them wrong Valtyr...
Raven of Despair	posted 07-02-99 01:37 PM ET Hugo, I have to seriously disagree with your statements. Firstly, if you have not played Pirates! you cannot really comment on it. It was alot of fun, and I got more hours out of it than SMAC. Yes, by today's standards it may not stack up, but it came out in 1987. Pirates! Gold, on the other hand, was just a update. I wish that more had been done with it. I also completely disagree with you about SMG! That game is wonderful. I play it regularly. I also like the learning curve level in Civ. I found the basic gameplay elements easy to learn. The startegy itself (the manual was lost) was a longer, but very fun, process. Never played Railroad Tycoon, so I can't comment. I will put Sid Meier's name down for greatest game designer, but that is my opinion. I loved Civ/Civ II, but I fervently hope that CivIII will be a fresher design.
Valtyr	posted 07-02-99 04:28 PM ET Ambro: Look who's talking, Ambrosius !
Trappist	posted 07-02-99 04:34 PM ET The bloke who invented blow jobs has to feature high in the list, whoever he was.
Trappist	posted 07-02-99 04:36 PM ET Hugo- did you really think that the learning curve in Meier games is too steep? I'd say they are perfectly weighted- the learning process is one of the best bits.
jig	posted 07-03-99 01:10 AM ET Trappist, he did not invent, he discovered. There's a big difference.
JohnIII	posted 07-03-99 03:34 AM ET Definetly: Larry Holland (X-Wing, TIE Fighter, etc.) Shigeru Miyamoto (Mario, Zelda, etc.) Jon Romero and/or John Carmack (Wolf 3D, Doom, Quake, etc.) or Peter Molyneux (Populous, Magic Carpet, etc.) John III
Philip McCauley	posted 07-04-99 12:46 AM ET The guy who invented BJ's was Grrrraaag, the cousin of the guy who invented fire. The idea came up when someone asked, "So how we keep warm when fire go out?"
Ambro2000	posted 07-04-99 07:59 AM ET Aouch! You got me there Valtyr Ambro2000
Darksider	posted 07-06-99 09:20 PM ET It has to be the guy who developed Half-Life. Brilliant game using an old engine and loads of new features pushing the genre forward.
JohnIII	posted 07-07-99 01:13 PM ET Gabe Newell? He is the founder of Valve, although I don't know if he was credited as "designer". John III
Picker	posted 07-07-99 01:23 PM ET Kou Shibusawa
White_Cat	posted 07-08-99 05:21 AM ET Lawrence! It's Lawrence Holland, not Larry! Grrr.... - White Cat, who will probably be made to look like a complete idiot by someone telling him that Larry is a nickname for Lawrence, like Dick is for Richard.
CrayonX	posted 07-09-99 03:30 AM ET Either Miyamoto or Will Wright (SimCity series). Also, didn't Brian Reynolds AND Sid Meier corraborate on the Civ games? And wasn't Sid just a consultant on CivII and SMAC while Brian did most of the designing? (Credit where credit is due). Am I the only one eagerly anticipating "The Sims"?
SnowFire	posted 07-09-99 08:43 AM ET But it was Sid Meier and Bruce Shelly on CivI, CrayonX. Interestingly enough, Shelly was succesful enough based on that credit to go out on his own and make Age of Empires, which interestingly enough was entitled "Age of Civilization" before Microprose suggested a better name might be more appropriate. Politely of course. Too bad Age of Empires was only WarCraft in prettier graphics, it could have really moved the genre forward if it hadn't.