“Everything you now is wrong!”; Radical to speak at GDC

Oh no! A radical is going to speak at GDC.

Above: A radical

And now, trusting reader, you are asking why I am calling Sid Meir a radical? Why, it is because of what he is going to say. Take a look:

When designing a game, particularly one based on real-world or historical topics, it might seem that hard facts, physical principles, painstaking research, and mathematical formulas would provide the foundation for a successful game. Wrong. These and many other seemingly useful tools will have to take a back seat to the real driving force in game design: the psychology of the player. Gameplay is a psychological experience: it’s all in your head. The vagaries of human psychology define your game more than the laws of physics or algebra. Egomania, Paranoia, Delusion – these are tools to be wielded with precision and care. For the player, perception is reality and the center of the universe is right here. As we follow this reasoning to its logical conclusion we discover a number of amazing things, among them: everyone is above average, 2/1 is not equal to 20/10, and the player is his/her own worst enemy.

Oh my! What is Sid saying here? Can you imagine all these middle age game developers having heart attacks in the middle of Sid’s speech? The psychology of the gamer? Oh dear.

But what Sid is going to say is not new. Much of this was the belief structure of Dani Bunton, one of the old era pioneers.

It will be interesting to hear what Sid Meir has to say.