Since the 1980s, his name has been synonymous with releasing top-notch titles like Sid Meier’s Civilization and Sid Meier’s Pirates! The upcoming release of Sid Meier’s book makes it the perfect occasion to take a look back at his stellar career and to ask the talented developer himself a few questions.
History mixed with game development
Usually, in every hero origin story we write, we tend to start with an opening sentence like “nothing suggested that this would be their fate.” But actually, in the case of Sid Meier, it was exactly the opposite. Born in Sarnia, Ontario, in 1954, he studied history and computer science at the University of Michigan – two faculties that practically defined his future career.
After graduating, Meier went to develop cash register systems for department stores. It wasn’t bad work, but he clearly wanted to do something more creative. In the early 1980s, he bought an Atari 800 – the computer that made him (as well as many other developers from his generation) fall in love with video games. And since he could play them, Meier decided, “why not try to create them?”
MicroProse
In 1982, Sid Meier started a video game company along with his former co-worker, Bill Stealey. Their first creations were mainly flight simulators. This actually isn’t surprising, since they both loved the classic Red Baron game and Stealey was a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy. Thus, MicroProse made its developing mark with titles like Hellcat Ace (1982), Solo Flight (1983), and F-15 Strike Eagle (1985). Sid Meier ended this creative period with the release of F-19 Stealth Fighter in 1988, a game he considered an almost ideal simulator.
From then on, he focused mainly on strategy games. The first one, Sid Meier’s Pirates! from 1987, became not only a cult …read more
Source:: GOG – Good Old Games
