Sid Meier's Memoir!: A Life in Computer Games
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- Author：Sid Meier
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Summary
Over his four-decade career， Sid Meier has produced some of the world’s most popular video games， including Sid Meier’s Civilization， which has sold more than 51 million units worldwide and accumulated more than one billion hours of play。 Sid Meier’s Memoir！ is the story of an obsessive young computer enthusiast who helped launch a multibillion-dollar industry。 Writing with warmth and ironic humor， Meier describes the genesis of his influential studio， MicroProse， founded in 1982 after a trip to a Las Vegas arcade， and recounts the development of landmark games， from vintage classics like Pirates！ and Railroad Tycoon， to Civilization and beyond。
Articulating his philosophy that a video game should be “a series of interesting decisions，” Meier also shares his perspective on the history of the industry， the psychology of gamers， and fascinating insights into the creative process， including his rules of good game design。
Articulating his philosophy that a video game should be “a series of interesting decisions，” Meier also shares his perspective on the history of the industry， the psychology of gamers， and fascinating insights into the creative process， including his rules of good game design。
Reviews
Lukas Lovas
，
This was awesome！ It felt so honest and heartfelt。。。it was filled with humor， history and interesting facts and tidbits I truly enjoyed reading about :） I'm honestly a bit sad that as far as computer games go， I am but a consumer。。。 definitely worth reading no matter if you've ever played any of Sid Meyer's games :） This was awesome！ It felt so honest and heartfelt。。。it was filled with humor， history and interesting facts and tidbits I truly enjoyed reading about :） I'm honestly a bit sad that as far as computer games go， I am but a consumer。。。 definitely worth reading no matter if you've ever played any of Sid Meyer's games :） 。。。more
Pepsichka
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Очень интересно было читать о том， как игровая индустрия росла с самого начала， когда компьютеры были большими， а графику приходилось имитировать псевдографикой， потому что шла битва за каждый ресурс компа。 В очередной раз скачивая пятидесятимегабайтные обновления приложенек с minority upgrades на свой айфончик я иногда жалею， что те времена прошли
Becky
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A delightful exploration of the history of game development and beyond。 Almost as compelling as his beloved game， Civ。
Роман Шатерник
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Очень хорошая， добрая и позитивная книга （можно даже сказать тёплая и ламповая）。 Не могу судить насколько там всё объективно， но очень интересно рассказано про зарождение индустрии компьютерных игр - про те времена， когда игры делались в одно лицо， а основной сложностью было обойти ограничения железа。 Я играл в детстве в Цивилизацию， кажется во вторую， и помню как дедушка заинтересовался можно ли смоделировать ситуации реального мира， используя игру как инструмент。 Интересно было узнать как чело Очень хорошая， добрая и позитивная книга （можно даже сказать тёплая и ламповая）。 Не могу судить насколько там всё объективно， но очень интересно рассказано про зарождение индустрии компьютерных игр - про те времена， когда игры делались в одно лицо， а основной сложностью было обойти ограничения железа。 Я играл в детстве в Цивилизацию， кажется во вторую， и помню как дедушка заинтересовался можно ли смоделировать ситуации реального мира， используя игру как инструмент。 Интересно было узнать как человек пришёл к созданию такой невероятно крутой игры。 。。。more
Rick Wilson
，
Pleasant and lighthearted。 An interesting romp through game development across the 80s into the 2000s。 Book gets a little scattered at times with multiple stories being crammed into a tight space but the overall impact is positive。 Probably not recommend it to anyone who doesn’t have an interest in video games， programming， or game development。
Shaun Davidson
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Wonderful read。 Reminded me of so many things from 90’s - playing Civ II， Spectrum Holobyte， Carmack’s 。plan file。 Read most of it while vacationing with the fam in Sunriver。 Play at the water park during the day， read this in the afternoon… perfection。
Igor Shilov
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Don’t let the cover fool you - it’s not a Civilization story。 Perhaps that’s on me， but I was hoping for more civ-related content than just 3 chapters out of 24。On the bright side， I learned that the entire “hyper-aggressive Gandhi due to integer overflow” thing is an urban myth。 They never used unsigned types to store leader’s characteristics， Gandhi was never too eager to use nuclear weapon and the entire story is a complete fake
Roman
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Сид Мейер не только гениальный гейм-дизайнер， но еще и интересный рассказчик。 Книга описывает его карьеру в индустрии （а он делает игры уже практически 40 лет）， перемешанную с интересными историями из жизни。 Можно узнать почему в начале карьеры у Сида было столько игр про самолеты， почему не получилось сделать игру про динозавров и， наконец， разрушение мифа о "ядерном Ганди"。 Восхищен его скромностью и преданностью своему делу。 Пока одна из самых интересных книг про игровую индустрию， что я проч Сид Мейер не только гениальный гейм-дизайнер， но еще и интересный рассказчик。 Книга описывает его карьеру в индустрии （а он делает игры уже практически 40 лет）， перемешанную с интересными историями из жизни。 Можно узнать почему в начале карьеры у Сида было столько игр про самолеты， почему не получилось сделать игру про динозавров и， наконец， разрушение мифа о "ядерном Ганди"。 Восхищен его скромностью и преданностью своему делу。 Пока одна из самых интересных книг про игровую индустрию， что я прочитал。 。。。more
Johnny
，
Although I am not mentioned by name in the book， Sid Meier’s Memoir！ was particularly fascinating to me because I lived it—our paths crossing many times。 Unlike Sid， I have “cheated death” in the Miss Microprose with Bill Stealey， his longtime business partner。 Like Sid， I was at the first Computer Game Developers Conference outside of Chris Crawford’s ranch。 Although Sid was one of the Legends of Game Design at a later conference （p。 62）， I was the one interviewing him in front of the crowd of Although I am not mentioned by name in the book， Sid Meier’s Memoir！ was particularly fascinating to me because I lived it—our paths crossing many times。 Unlike Sid， I have “cheated death” in the Miss Microprose with Bill Stealey， his longtime business partner。 Like Sid， I was at the first Computer Game Developers Conference outside of Chris Crawford’s ranch。 Although Sid was one of the Legends of Game Design at a later conference （p。 62）， I was the one interviewing him in front of the crowd of that plenary keynote session。 And， Sid was incredibly gracious with his time to Alan Emrich and me when we wrote Sid Meier’s Civilization， Rome on 640K A Day。 In fact， I think Alan kept him on the phone for at least an hour every day。 Sorry， Sid。 And I can remember meeting with an atypically dispirited Sid Meier during the Magic: The Gathering development period （see why on p。 172）。So， you can write off my high rating on this book as bias if you like。 But if you care about computer games and how they evolved; if you wish you could get into a designer’s head as he performs summary （not detailed） post-mortems on both his great successes and great efforts; if you wish you understood how other elements in the industry and game technology drove release schedules and project choices; and if you wish you could have all of this delivered with Sid’s dry wit and low-key personal delivery， Sid Meier’s Memoir！ is another of his major successes。 Of course， just as Sid’s great successes have been tied to many collaborators over the years （Andy Hollis， Bruce Shelley， and Arnold Hendricks to name a few）， this book has marvelous pacing and has not lost Sid’s voice in his collaboration with Jennifer Lee Noonan。 At times， though， one gets the feeling that some of Sid’s notes were shoveled into the book in a bizarre historical present phase。 For example， on p。 154， Sid talks about “still” having red caps around the office and wearing them for “good luck” just prior to going “gold” with a release， even though he had already established his own company different from Microprose by the time this volume was published。Yes， I could just hear Sid lamenting （on p。 157）: “My entire philosophy of gaming was that the player should be the star and the designer should be invisible， yet I was the guy who kept ending up on the box。” He meant it， too。 Throughout the book， he gives credit to Dan Bunten/Dani Bunten Berry （calling M。U。L。E。 “…which many consider to be one of the best computer games of all time， …” （p。 95）， Walter Bright and Mark Baldwin （p。 190） for Empire: Game of the Century and how the way it uncovered the map influenced Civ （p。 190）， Will Wright for his influence on Sid Meier’s Railroad Tycoon （p。 110）， as well as Brian Reynolds for doing the “real” work on Sid Meier’s Colonization and Sid Meier’s Civilization II。 I also have to give Sid “kudos” for his extremely accurate praise of Bing Gordon， one of the earliest pioneers at Electronic Arts and one of the smartest guys I’ve ever known in bridging concerns between marketing and gameplay （I still give him credit for being the guy who saved The Sims when it was on the cusp of success vs。 failure， but that’s a different story。）。 [Amazingly， as powerful as he became， Bing was always one of the nicest guys I met in the industry。 Lots of great people！ Bing at or near the top of the list！]There are so many jewels in this volume， even though I had a privileged seat through much of the history it entails， that I was delighted to find it and even had to take notes on many of the concepts。 The ones I share here should not be taken as exhaustive or even thorough in any sense。 These are just points that resonated particularly well with me。 Indeed， I had only reached the bottom of page 2 when I wished that， when I had been teaching game design， I had been able to synthesize Sid’s approach to game design as well as he did when he explained that game design was an outward-looking mindset。 As a result， “We are surrounded by decisions， and therefore games， in everything we do。 ‘Interesting’ might be subject to personal taste to some degree， but the gift of agency—that is， the ability of players to exert free will over their surroundings rather than obediently following a narrative—is what sets games apart from other media， …。” Or， as Sid summarizes later in the book: “Good games teach us that there are tradeoffs to everything， actions lead to outcomes， and the chance to try again is almost always out there。” （p。 187） Again， “I think having a slightly obsessive personality is a useful thing。 On the one hand， it keeps me focused on the quality of my work， but on the other， it provides critical sources of outside inspiration， which often contribute in surprising ways。” （p。 218）During the process of building Sid Meier’s Civilization， I once harassed Sid about some of his design choices （Yeah， I know—the gall！） and he responded that they had tried many more choices but， ultimately， “It wasn’t fun， so we took it out。” I may not have the words exactly as he said them， but that’s the story I’ve told to design students over the years。 He puts it significantly more elegantly in Sid Meier’s Memoir！ when he talks about the dangers of giving players too many choices so that they become frustrated and quit。 “It was my job， I thought， to whittle down the options and present only the best ones to the player。” （p。 73） He goes on to say， “So then: no wrong answers， and more than one right answer， but not too many。” （p。 73） Speaking of “fun，” his brutal awareness of a flaw in one prototype where he had provided a key to automate a function reads: “…if you have to offload the supposedly fun part of your game， that’s a pretty good indication that you’re confused about what fun is。” （p。 202）I wish I had emphasized the “random” problem more vividly when I was teaching。 I used to rant about “unfair puzzles，” but Sid cites the bridge problem in Sid Meier’s Railroad Tycoon where Bruce Shelley （yes， the same one who designed Age of Empired） kept complaining about his bridges being washed out。 That was when， “The key difference between a gameplay challenge and a betrayal， I realized， was whether the player had a fighting chance to avoid it。 So rather than eliminate the flooding， I introduced different kinds of bridges。” （pp。 113-114） And， having had many design students （well， design groups really） who tried to shoehorn too many different types of game mechanics together， I would loved to have been able to quote Sid as saying， “The notion that ‘one good game is better than two great games’ was such a revelation that it became known in m mind as ‘The Covert Action Rule。” （p。 121） he talks about it in terms of finding a game’s center of gravity today， but I’m old enough to love its old name。 Interestingly enough， I had never really noticed an animation in Sid Meier’s Railroad Tycoon that was particularly important to Sid。 Apparently， when trains are about to crash to their ruin because of washed-out bridges， the engineers and firemen always successfully bail out。 I was probably so consumed by the disaster that I didn’t notice。 But it is very consistent with Sid’s perspective on violence: “The world is often a very negative place， and I’d rather push it in the opposite direction whenever I can。 There’s an argument to be made that by exposing the unpleasant reality of violence， you can inspire others to push against it， too， but this generally requires a removed perspective， rather than the inherent first-person nature of games。 It’s hard to claim that our products are immersive， but somehow insist that the experience has no impact。” （p。 99） Of course， I loved Sid’s philosophy about technology: “I generally saw technology in terms of progress， rather than limitations， and lived in a nearly perpetual state of excitement over what we could accomplish。” （p。 181） Another clever， but insightful， quip comes shortly after Sid confesses that he had even been late to his own meetings on the game because of playing the game: “The spectrum from interesting， to compelling， to addicting is long and nuanced。” （p。 196） The other side of technology was reflected when Sid wrote， “Most bug fixes are not about broken code， they’re about closing design loopholes that players refuse to ignore。” （p。 161） One “bug fix” that wasn’t a bug is described in detail concerning development of Sid Meier’s Civilization: Revolution。 Even though it is possible to lose battles where you outnumber your opponent considerably， the code reduces the randomness so that one couldn’t lose at higher than 2:1 odds。 But， when people complained about losing 2:1 battles in a sequence， they ended taking the previous battle into consideration so that you couldn’t lose a 2:1 battle twice in a row。 “We made it less random， so that it could feel more random。” （p。 247）I loved Sid’s admission that he thought Brian Reynolds was wrong when he opened up Sid Meier’s Civilization II for modding。 Sid felt gamers would do a poor job of modification and blame the designers or， conversely， push the designers out of a job—limiting future possibilities。 “I was so wrong， on all counts。 The strength of the modding community is， instead， the very reason the series survived at all。” （p。 164） More importantly， he observed on the same page: “What I didn’t see at the time is that imagination never diminishes reality; it only heightens it。” Another great observation in this book is so true to the Sid Meier I’ve known over the years。 “The truth is I never really give up on anything。 The ideas just sit in stasis， sometimes for decades， until I can figure out the right way to make them work。” （p。 201）。 One piece of wisdom I had forgotten， though either he or another Microprose veteran seems to have told me。 That was the secret to making sequels in a series of games。 Since life often follows the “Rule of Threes，” it isn’t surprising that Sid uses a “Rule of Thirds” （though he didn’t capitalize it）。 “One-third of the previous version stays in place， one-third is updated， and one-third is completely new。” （p。 228） I hope those who read this little review summary find it to be both useful and entertaining as I did in reading Sid Meier’s Memoir！ to begin with。 Thank you， Jennifer Lee Noonan for putting Sid’s reminiscences together in such a delightful narrative， and thank you， Sid， for sharing some introspective thoughts and biographical anecdotes we’d never have otherwise known。 。。。more
Christian Mogensen
，
Interesting look at the history of computer gaming from the inside。The gradual professionalization， and the struggle with being absorbed into a corporate behemoth。The disappearing floppies and CDs， and the arrival of project managers and specialists。
D。B。
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This book is fantastic。 It gives us a look inside the head of one of the great game designers of our time， and it takes us down memory lane。 Well written， funny， full of good advice and unique insights。 The author is humble （to a fault）， generous towards all other contributors， and full of life。A must-read for any Maker or fan of Civ games。
Özgür
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Sid Meier is at a place on-par with the rock stars of 80's for any X gen's childhood being one of the pioneers of computer games。 Reading his biography， I was taken aback to the first time I saw an arcade game back in 1984， micro-prose soccer parties we had during late 80's， hours spent searching for the treasure fleet in pirates （I still have the Caribbean map memorised） and CIV nights in early 90's。。。I loved the story behind the games， the humble beginning and later turning into one of the ind Sid Meier is at a place on-par with the rock stars of 80's for any X gen's childhood being one of the pioneers of computer games。 Reading his biography， I was taken aback to the first time I saw an arcade game back in 1984， micro-prose soccer parties we had during late 80's， hours spent searching for the treasure fleet in pirates （I still have the Caribbean map memorised） and CIV nights in early 90's。。。I loved the story behind the games， the humble beginning and later turning into one of the industry giants who shaped if not defined the gaming industry。 Thank you Sid， for all the fun you brought to our lives。 。。。more
Batavian
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Good history of the people and companies involved in the development of Sid Meier’s games。 A trip down memory lane for old school gamers。 I particularly liked that Sid mentions other programmers， designers， and developers。
Aaron White
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Sid Meier's Civilization is among my favorite game series ever and this memoir was a fantastic journey through his career and interesting look into how a genius of game design's mind works。 Sid Meier's Civilization is among my favorite game series ever and this memoir was a fantastic journey through his career and interesting look into how a genius of game design's mind works。 。。。more
Kyle Erickson
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Thoroughly enjoyable memoir from a man responsible for a lot of games I've loved。 I didn't expect to be so fascinated by all his commentary about the nature of gaming and how games have progressed。 Definitely recommended for anybody who loves gaming， especially computer games。 Thoroughly enjoyable memoir from a man responsible for a lot of games I've loved。 I didn't expect to be so fascinated by all his commentary about the nature of gaming and how games have progressed。 Definitely recommended for anybody who loves gaming， especially computer games。 。。。more
DropOfOcean
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It was solid and interesting read for the most parts。 First half is more intriguing than the second which has some more general jargon。
Gummi Joh
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Informative， a little bit dry but a good read。 I grew up playing his games， they are addictive and fun and the book explains why， it's not by chance。 Informative， a little bit dry but a good read。 I grew up playing his games， they are addictive and fun and the book explains why， it's not by chance。 。。。more
B
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Disappointing。 Meier is a genius 。And he's clearly a great writer with a good sense of humor。 And he's been around in the gaming industry for decades。But it's not clear what Meier wants to write about。 He writes about some of his earlier games， but seems pretty disinterested in describing roughly anything from Railroads on。 And many of the games take a backseat to small events in his life but he's not interested in talking about his life。 A sister and a wife are mentioned more in passing than ot Disappointing。 Meier is a genius 。And he's clearly a great writer with a good sense of humor。 And he's been around in the gaming industry for decades。But it's not clear what Meier wants to write about。 He writes about some of his earlier games， but seems pretty disinterested in describing roughly anything from Railroads on。 And many of the games take a backseat to small events in his life but he's not interested in talking about his life。 A sister and a wife are mentioned more in passing than otherwise。 Probably if the book had one focus it was Meier's relationship with Wild Bill Stealey。 Once that ends， Meier seems to become a very distant observer。 Maybe because he has no foil？ He kind of tries at the end to talk about critical theory about his games， but that peters out （probably for the best）。 An interesting story， but it feels like the manual to the real biography。 Was there anything he wanted to say other than that he made a lot of games and that he can tell jokes？ 。。。more
Matthew Petti
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I have spent hundreds of hours playing Sid Meier's Civilization IV。 515。6 hours， to be exact。 And that's only according to my Steam account; I've probably played dozens more hours on my old laptop。Odds are， you've also played a video game created or inspired by Sid Meier。 Strategy games， tycoon games， adventure games， games with minigames in them — Meier pioneered all of these genres。 So when he published a memoir， I jumped at a chance to get inside the head of a man responsible for so much of m I have spent hundreds of hours playing Sid Meier's Civilization IV。 515。6 hours， to be exact。 And that's only according to my Steam account; I've probably played dozens more hours on my old laptop。Odds are， you've also played a video game created or inspired by Sid Meier。 Strategy games， tycoon games， adventure games， games with minigames in them — Meier pioneered all of these genres。 So when he published a memoir， I jumped at a chance to get inside the head of a man responsible for so much of modern culture。 It was definitely worth it， and I finished the whole book in a day。There was no "Eureka！" moment for Meier， only the slow accumulation of progress， a point he comes back to again and again。 As a young adult， he programmed the machines in his university computer lab to play tic-tac-toe， and he distracted all of his coworkers by writing a rudimentary Star Trek game on company computers。 Eventually， he realized he could make money designing games。 But Meier didn't suddenly quit his job one day — first he started working on games nights and weekends， then left work to game design part time， and only turned gaming into a full-time gig once the sales started to come in。Similarly， modern video games developed over time， and Meier was there for a lot of it。 The features we now take for granted （like 3D landscapes or split-screen multiplayer） were developed bit-by-bit， as computers got more advanced and game designers built off of each other's work。 Meier started with Mario-style platform jumpers， then moved on to （very basic） flight simulators; gradually， the games focused less on combat and more on strategy。 His games started to give players more control over the storyline， then began to center around building the world itself， most famously in Railroad Tycoon and Civilization。Meier himself comes off as a total nerd， a Baby Boomer par excellence， and a fun guy to hang out with。 He approaches life with a real earnestness， and is having a great time making a living from creating games for other people。 These days， white Boomer culture gets a bad rap， but Meier shows how its wholesome nerdy side — from model trains to pirate movies — can also shine through。 And despite his Cold War upbringing， he is now fairly reflective about the purpose of his work and the kinds of narratives he pushes。The one thing that hasn't changed very much is Meier's philosophy on making games: "find the fun。" Take something from life or history， extract the "interesting choices，" and figure out how to present them as a challenge without being too frustrating。 Again， all of this unfolds over time， as the game designer puts together a prototype， then refines it by slowly adding aspects to the game and testing them *a lot。*"There is no map before you've explored the wilderness， and no overriding artistic vision on Day One，" Meier writes。 "There's just the hard， consistent work of making something a little better each day， and being as efficient as possible in your discovery of what it's going to turn out to be。" 。。。more
Namuel
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Find the fun！interesting guyI wanted all cciv talk though。 he’s made a lot more games than i realized！
Andrew O'reilly
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Fascinating look at the life and philosophy of a computer games legend。 Would love to hear more about the technical side of the games he created someday。
Yuri Krupenin
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Достаточно интересно и познавательно， но удивительно стерильно написано， будто ghostwritten автобиография президента какого。
Justin
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Phenomenal book。 I loved every minute of it。 It has definitely re-inspired me in my pursuit of coding as a job and hobby。
Denis Vasilev
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Незабвенный автор Цивилизации и Колонизации， отец геймдизайна
Joel Cutter
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An inspirational book from a genius who has designed and created over 55 video games， a few of which I have played for 100s of hours。
Scott Pantall
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This book is a light romp through Meier's career as a game designer。 It inspires me to try to make games again。 There's a decent "just try it" attitude that Meier has that is encouraging， especially from someone with his success。 This book is a light romp through Meier's career as a game designer。 It inspires me to try to make games again。 There's a decent "just try it" attitude that Meier has that is encouraging， especially from someone with his success。 。。。more
Ivan
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Хорошая книга。 В ней больше любви к видеоиграм и их истории， чем в той， название которой советует игроку приготовиться。 А ещё это первая и единственная книга， в которой есть достижения！
Nick Sologoub
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Recommended by Svyatoslav Torick
Gabriel A。
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The first half is perhaps the most interesting one at least for those over 30 who enjoyed by first hand some of his classics。 Civ 1 for me was the game that put his name on my radar when I was 10 or so but also been playing other Microprose games before。 Explains the company origins and also the games developed in that time。 The second half is more contemporary and thus not so charming。 This is not a game design book and some portray， but a history book about how the games were created and some The first half is perhaps the most interesting one at least for those over 30 who enjoyed by first hand some of his classics。 Civ 1 for me was the game that put his name on my radar when I was 10 or so but also been playing other Microprose games before。 Explains the company origins and also the games developed in that time。 The second half is more contemporary and thus not so charming。 This is not a game design book and some portray， but a history book about how the games were created and some insights about the decisions that lead to some game features。 Has very little personal information about Sid and the last third of the book feels like filling， had a hard time finishing it。 。。。more
David
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