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The Story of Maxis Software (1999)

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Re: The Story of Maxis Software (1999)

#61

Post by DonHopkins »

hekec wrote: post #43

I still hope some indie dev will build something similar to Spore. Probably my favorite videogame as a kid.

Check out Dyson Sphere Program, by a small Chinese indie game developer called Youthcat Studio, which has an overwhelmingly positive rating (98%) on Steam. Caution: Programmer Crack. Not exactly a Spore clone, but WOW it's VAST and SEAMLESS! Kind of like 3D Factorio in Space. I'm running it right now, and was just dreaming about stringing together layered conveyor belt spaghetti factories last night, while my automated trans-galactic factory was churning out millions of widgets as I slept. I love it! Brilliant user interface and game design and solid efficient implementation.

After playing games like SimCity and Factorio for a while, you can step back and admire what you created from scratch, but with Dyson Sphere Program, you can just look up into the sky, or fly into orbit to look down on the planet, then warp outside the solar system to get a perspective on what you created by building and designing and assembling every single piece.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_Sphere_Program

Dyson Sphere Program Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ3fDcm5qaQ

Dyson Sphere Program TGS2021 Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6xHlPki-jE

PERFECT START TO A NEW GAME | #1 | Dyson Sphere Program | Lets Play/Walkthrough/Guide:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0xTNF7fPJg

Automated DYSON SPHERE BUILDER & 10 GW Ray Receiver BLUEPRINTS | Dyson Sphere Program Master Class:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-ijrWXOdCs

Black Hole Dyson Sphere TIMELAPSE | Dyson Sphere Program (this will give you an idea of the vast scale at which this game operates):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEpTaXRIhE0

Strip-mining the galaxy has never been so satisfying. The goal of Dyson Sphere Program is efficiency, not battle:

https://www.polygon.com/2021/1/29/22255096/dyson-sphere-prog...

Re: The Story of Maxis Software (1999)

#62

Post by rl3 »

DonHopkins wrote: post #58
slim109ya wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have to personally attack Brendan Eich?

Quoted post unavailable.

Not OP, but figured I'd add to this:

Eich ended up on the advisory board of OTOY.[0] As you can see, it's not exactly a bastion of virtue.

It gets worse.[1] I read through probably a few hundred pages of the deposition transcript for that case out of sheer curiosity one night, and was left feeling nothing but disgust.

[0] https://home.otoy.com/advisory-board/

[1] https://christopheremoore.net/otoy/

Re: The Story of Maxis Software (1999)

#63

Post by [deleted] »

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?

[deleted]

Re: The Story of Maxis Software (1999)

#64

Post by KissingGuysGuy »

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?

[flagged]

Re: The Story of Maxis Software (1999)

#65

Post by KissingGuysGuy »

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.

No post body was provided.

Re: The Story of Maxis Software (1999)

#67

Post by hekec »

DonHopkins wrote: post #61
hekec wrote: post #43

I still hope some indie dev will build something similar to Spore. Probably my favorite videogame as a kid.

Check out Dyson Sphere Program, by a small Chinese indie game developer called Youthcat Studio, which has an overwhelmingly positive rating (98%) on Steam. Caution: Programmer Crack. Not exactly a Spore clone, but WOW it's VAST and SEAMLESS! Kind of like 3D Factorio in Space. I'm running it right now, and was just dreaming about stringing together layered conveyor belt spaghetti factories last night, while my automat…

Omg, I loved this game. Played for several days until I saw that my journey will probably be quite long and complex. Still want to give it another shot, so thanks for mentioning this gem! I was thrilled when I realized I could travel to other planets

Re: The Story of Maxis Software (1999)

#68

Post by p_l »

DonHopkins wrote: post #37

Here are some old Sims design documents: https://donhopkins.com/home/TheSims https://donhopkins.com/home/TheSimsDesignDocuments This one describes Maxis's philosophy of Sim game design: https://donhopkins.com/home/TheSimsDesignDocuments/MaxisSimR... MAXIS SIM GAME REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY The Maxis marketing department recently studied customer expectations of Maxis Sim games. The study revealed seven descriptions of wha…

Regarding destruction:

I do not remember details, as I didn't play Sims much, but there was a persistent rumour that by pausing the game at appropriate time - mid-jump into swimming pool by a sim and replacing the target swimming pool tile with a toilet, one could get a Sim to swim in the toilet seat.

Another one, which I definitely had seen, involved taking away all doors, then replacing all of the house floor with swimming pool, for obvious end result.

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