Tue, Oct 27, 2009 | 16:07 GMT
Orson Scott Card: There aren’t enough turn-based strategy games
Orson Scott Card has said that there are not enough turn-based strategy games out there, and the ones that are out there focus too much on battle.
Speaking with BigDownload about Shadow Complex, among other things, Card said that most game developers could learn a thing or two from Sid Meier when it comes to creating strategy games.
“I like the turn-based strategy game and there aren’t very many of those made, and most of them are made badly,” he said. “Really Sid Meier is the only guy who does it reliably. And I wish more people would learn the lessons from the way he does it. Because I’ve looked at some of the other offerings and they emphasize the tedium and the fog of war.
“You have to fight these endless battles. And I don’t want to play war. I want to play Civilization. And Civilization, you have to be able to fight, you have to be prepared to fight, but the main business of Civilization is being civilized –creating stuff, building. That’s what I want to do.”
It’s a rather interesting read, and the full thing is through here.
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Posted in: Interview
Tags: orson scott card, sid meier, turn-based strategy
13 comments
#1
Gheritt White
27/10/09, 4:08 pm
BORRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!
Gimme som o’ dat shooty blam blam!
#2
blackdreamhunk
27/10/09, 4:10 pm
TBS are huge genre that makes tons of money. In fact I would say TBS and RTS are alot bigger than fps.
that is before big companies and game devs started to trash talk pc gaming!
These are genres that console gaming can’t handle.
#3
bobbymington
27/10/09, 4:16 pm
Orson scott card is a homophobe
#4
DrDamn
27/10/09, 4:22 pm
TBS is something I enjoy. There was a big rush to go RTS as an assumption that this was a natural progression. It’s not, it’s just a different approach. If I am asked to control a large number of characters/things then I prefer to actually control them and have them do what I tell them to do rather than rely on AI and how quickly I can click on stuff.
#5
conk donk
27/10/09, 4:27 pm
I have to agree. I love Civilization for its mix of empire building, diplomacy and warfare and wish there were more games like it. There’s plenty of scope on improving the diplomacy side of things for example.
#6
Gekidami
27/10/09, 4:54 pm
Because they’re boring Mr. Card.
#7
ybfelix
27/10/09, 4:55 pm
Civilization is still pretty much a war/tactical game. You got like, settlers and workers? On the offensive units side there are spearman and swordman and pikeman and Aztec Jaguar warrior maybe. If you go for a grand strategy of civilization level, are those minor differentiation of units really neccessary? If worker’s role and upgrade is automatically assigned, shouldn’t military units be
“genericized” too?
#8
gorman
27/10/09, 4:56 pm
Much as I appreciate his novels, one has to wonder: if you want to play Civilization, then play Civilization. It’s not as if there’s a lack of iterations working on every conceivable hardware out there…
#9
Scyrenn
27/10/09, 5:39 pm
Still waiting for Alpha Centauri 2…
#10
FeaturePreacher
27/10/09, 5:52 pm
A good way to fund more turn based strategy games would be to divert funds away from the homophobic bigot agenda that Card is a part of and towards turn based strategy games. That would be a good start.
#11
Artheval_Pe
27/10/09, 9:00 pm
Because they’re boring Mr. Card.
You obviously never played Civilization II :p
#12
Gekidami
27/10/09, 9:32 pm
I have Civ IV along with its add-ons (“Complete” Edition). A real snooze fest.
#13
winter
29/10/09, 2:01 am
yea, i wish there are more turn based strategy games.
i’ll be skipping that for sure.
the one i was waiting on was turned into a third person shooter.(front mission series.)
…and i’m perfectly fine with turn based games focusing on
battles.