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The Story of Maxis Software (1999)

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Re: The Story of Maxis Software (1999)

#51

Post by slim109ya »

rosmax_1337 wrote: post #46
Aloha wrote: post #3

This language dates the article, and (as a queer person) amuses me. "A homosexual programmer at Maxis objected to the use of female characters as objects of affection in SimCopter. So, he decided to protest by putting what he termed "muscle boys in swim trunks" into the game. During the game, these characters would mysteriously appear and kiss each other, but only on very rare occasions. At least, that was the idea.…

In my opinion, that really does go beyond being an "easter egg" and into being "personal activism", which has no place in a professional studio. Flip some narratives on the of the personal activism and you can easily see how it was incredibly unprofessional behaviour. That his activism is more accepted nowadays doesn't make it less unprofessional back then. It was good that he was fired for adding this to the game.

I agree. Personal activism is obviously what it was and it's sad that we can't say as mutch without being down-voted.

It would be much better if the gay people defending this would do so for the right reasons and not simply because they are 'rooting for the team.'

Re: The Story of Maxis Software (1999)

#52

Post by slim109ya »

DonHopkins wrote: post #34
Aloha wrote: post #3

This language dates the article, and (as a queer person) amuses me. "A homosexual programmer at Maxis objected to the use of female characters as objects of affection in SimCopter. So, he decided to protest by putting what he termed "muscle boys in swim trunks" into the game. During the game, these characters would mysteriously appear and kiss each other, but only on very rare occasions. At least, that was the idea.…

Jacques Severn is the "homosexual programmer at Maxis" who was responsible for the easter egg. The term he used for the buff dudes in speedos was "himbos" (male bimbos). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Servin Jacques was actually dismissed for inserting unapproved content into the game, not because there was a bug in the code, nor because he was gay. One consequence of the bug was that it delayed the release of…

Do you have to personally attack Brendan Eich?

Re: The Story of Maxis Software (1999)

#53

Post by tomnipotent »

slim109ya wrote: post #51
rosmax_1337 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my opinion, that really does go beyond being an "easter egg" and into being "personal activism", which has no place in a professional studio. Flip some narratives on the of the personal activism and you can easily see how it was incredibly unprofessional behaviour. That his activism is more accepted nowadays doesn't make it less unprofessional back then. It was good that he was fired for adding this to the game.

I agree. Personal activism is obviously what it was and it's sad that we can't say as mutch without being down-voted. It would be much better if the gay people defending this would do so for the right reasons and not simply because they are 'rooting for the team.'

So if a game includes Christian marriage, are the creators engaging in personal activism?

Re: The Story of Maxis Software (1999)

#54

Post by rl3 »

DonHopkins wrote: post #41
Nition wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, super interesting post. In case we're going to get answers, I'd love one on this too: > In fact SimCopter even had some officially sanctioned cannibalistic behaviors I own Sim Copter (bought it in the 90s) and I certainly never noticed this, and can't see it mentioned anywhere else on the Internet.

I think it happens if you kill somebody, and after a while other characters will eventually kneel down by them and eat their corpse. It's just something dark and funny I remember hearing Will mention in passing once, but I never saw it documented anywhere or tried it out myself. Maybe he was joking, but that's just the kind of easter egg he would lay. Determining if it's true would be a fun software archeology task!…

>I think it happens if you kill somebody, and after a while other characters will eventually kneel down by them and eat their corpse.

It's just something dark and funny I remember hearing Will mention in passing once, but I never saw it documented anywhere or tried it out myself. Maybe he was joking, but that's just the kind of easter egg he would lay.

My childhood memories are a bit fuzzy, but I think I remember this. The chewing sound in particular was very.. distinctive.

Then again, memory is susceptible to the power of suggestion. If only there was a game about that..

Re: The Story of Maxis Software (1999)

#55

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet »

DonHopkins wrote: post #34
Aloha wrote: post #3

This language dates the article, and (as a queer person) amuses me. "A homosexual programmer at Maxis objected to the use of female characters as objects of affection in SimCopter. So, he decided to protest by putting what he termed "muscle boys in swim trunks" into the game. During the game, these characters would mysteriously appear and kiss each other, but only on very rare occasions. At least, that was the idea.…

Jacques Severn is the "homosexual programmer at Maxis" who was responsible for the easter egg. The term he used for the buff dudes in speedos was "himbos" (male bimbos). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Servin Jacques was actually dismissed for inserting unapproved content into the game, not because there was a bug in the code, nor because he was gay. One consequence of the bug was that it delayed the release of…

Story Time with Don Hopkins is my favorite part of HN comments.

Re: The Story of Maxis Software (1999)

#56

Post by slim109ya »

tomnipotent wrote: post #53
slim109ya wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. Personal activism is obviously what it was and it's sad that we can't say as mutch without being down-voted. It would be much better if the gay people defending this would do so for the right reasons and not simply because they are 'rooting for the team.'

So if a game includes Christian marriage, are the creators engaging in personal activism?

No post body was provided.

Re: The Story of Maxis Software (1999)

#58

Post by DonHopkins »

slim109ya wrote: post #52
DonHopkins wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jacques Severn is the "homosexual programmer at Maxis" who was responsible for the easter egg. The term he used for the buff dudes in speedos was "himbos" (male bimbos). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Servin Jacques was actually dismissed for inserting unapproved content into the game, not because there was a bug in the code, nor because he was gay. One consequence of the bug was that it delayed the release of…

Do you have to personally attack Brendan Eich?

No post body was provided.

Re: The Story of Maxis Software (1999)

#59

Post by DonHopkins »

slim109ya wrote: post #51
rosmax_1337 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my opinion, that really does go beyond being an "easter egg" and into being "personal activism", which has no place in a professional studio. Flip some narratives on the of the personal activism and you can easily see how it was incredibly unprofessional behaviour. That his activism is more accepted nowadays doesn't make it less unprofessional back then. It was good that he was fired for adding this to the game.

I agree. Personal activism is obviously what it was and it's sad that we can't say as mutch without being down-voted. It would be much better if the gay people defending this would do so for the right reasons and not simply because they are 'rooting for the team.'

What makes you think that only gay people support gay rights for their own team? I know a hell of a lot of straight people who vigorously and sincerely support gay rights, not because they're "rooting for the team", not because they're "virtue signaling", but because it's the right, moral, ethical, logical, and decent thing to do.

You should get out more and make different friends, and actually get to know some real live gay people, before you talk so much shit about them like that, and presume to know what their motives are.

>Straight people don't like homosexuality shoved down their throat by all the gay people that want the world to accept it.

No, hateful bigoted assholes don't like homosexuality. Stop talking shit about straight people, too. Most straight people have no problem with homosexuality, because there's nothing wrong with it, and it's no threat to them, so they're not hysterically frightened by it like you are. You're getting rightfully downvoted, flagged, and deadened because what you're posting is wrong, close minded, stupid, and bigoted (and because you're whining and butt-hurt about the totally justified downvotes your earned, too), so the moderation system is working perfectly as it was designed.

Maybe it's because you're a bigot that you said you "have a hard time getting a single opportunity and feel lucky when we get a job". Bigots should have a hard time finding jobs. That's a good thing. Nobody wants to work with them.

Re: The Story of Maxis Software (1999)

#60

Post by DonHopkins »

rosmax_1337 wrote: post #46
Aloha wrote: post #3

This language dates the article, and (as a queer person) amuses me. "A homosexual programmer at Maxis objected to the use of female characters as objects of affection in SimCopter. So, he decided to protest by putting what he termed "muscle boys in swim trunks" into the game. During the game, these characters would mysteriously appear and kiss each other, but only on very rare occasions. At least, that was the idea.…

In my opinion, that really does go beyond being an "easter egg" and into being "personal activism", which has no place in a professional studio. Flip some narratives on the of the personal activism and you can easily see how it was incredibly unprofessional behaviour. That his activism is more accepted nowadays doesn't make it less unprofessional back then. It was good that he was fired for adding this to the game.

Are you also a free market advocate? Because the free market decided that it was just fine for The Sims to support gay romance and same sex marriages (with the franchise grossing over $5 billion in sales), and in fact it's gotten much more inclusive and "woke" over two decades.

Do you also believe that the fact that abolitionists are more accepted nowadays doesn't make it less unprofessional back then?

You're nothing more than yet another angry old bigot who's on the wrong side of history, so your opinion really doesn't matter, and you should keep it to yourself if you don't want to be publicly criticized and reviled.

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