Age III Board Game Update: The game is moving toward publication, though not completely clear yet. We reviewed the manual this week and found a few typos and confusing sections. We should be reviewing the other components soon as well. It is still not known when it will appear in stores, but we think it will be worth the wait.
Age III Further Reading: The historical research behind our games is generally very basic because we want our games to appeal to a broad audience. (The players should have the fun, not the historical researcher, game designer, computer, etc.) We do delve into more scholarly and detailed resources on occasion for story background, names of country specific units, and technologies. Research can be a very interesting part of making history based games and I particularly enjoy learning much more about a period, even if most of that knowledge ends up having little impact in the game.
The Age of Discovery is a particularly rich and interesting period that has spurred a vast amount of published literature for general (non-academic) audiences. One of the really profound books in this area is Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, by Jared Diamond, which presents a compelling explanation for why the Europeans arrived in the New World with so many technological and biological advantages. This book won a Pulitzer Prize and I strongly recommend it.
I recently read 1491 by Charles C. Mann and recommend it highly also. The author’s thesis is that the native cultures of the Americas just prior to their discovery of Europeans and vice versa were much more populated and advanced than previously believed. Based on the latest research (not all completely accepted), he makes the case that much of the Americas was a much more pleasant place to live than Europe. Here are a few of the many interesting positions the book makes.
1. The Amazon rain forest may be largely a human artifact. The rain forest population in 1491 may have been equal to that of today, supported then by very clever forest management (agro-forestry) that turned much of the area into extensive orchards of fruit and nut trees. They had developed techniques for greatly improving the richness of naturally poor soils that are being actively studied now for application around the world. Slash and burn agriculture that is consuming the rain forest today appeared after the European arrival with steel axes that could easily cut down trees.
2. Attempts by the French to settle the New England coast in the early 1600s were easily rebuffed by a dense coastal population of natives that prevented some crews from even landing to get water. Following a devastating three year epidemic starting around 1616, the local population collapsed. When the Pilgrims arrived in 1620 the natives were largely gone and the colonists were able to occupy abandoned villages for their first winter.
3. Between 1492 and 1600, the native population of the Americas may have shrunk by 95% due to the ravages of diseases to which the natives were particularly susceptible. The Black Death plague that struck Europe several centuries earlier and killed 30-40% of the population does not compare. The mass death of natives led to the replacement of native cultures by those from Europe and to the importation of slaves for labor. In India, Africa, and other parts of the world the Europeans could not supplant native cultures, despite their technological superiority, because the native populations were not devastated by disease.
4. In many other areas besides the Amazon the natives did not live lightly on the pristine and primeval land. They were often very active land managers and converted wide tracks to farmland. In the northeast they regularly burned extensive forests to clear underbrush and encourage plants and animals they favored.
More Games ES’ers Play: Another game popular with a segment of our staff right now is Zelda: Twilight Princess. I haven’t tried it yet but I’m told it is very, very good and is providing inspiration for a potential future product.
We also regularly download demo versions of games and place them on our network for people to try. This week the game people are trying is Supreme Commander, from old friend Chris Taylor.
Art Pipeline Wiki: Chris Van Doren was trained as an artist but has managed much of the technology of art for us for many years now. He keeps track of our art pipelines, which can get very complicated. As art pieces go through various steps (concept, model, animation, revision, etc.) he helps us keep the right version in place. His job gets more complicated each day as we ramp up multiple projects and art technology continues to change. He recently created an internal Art Wikipedia to be a central repository for art information. Our artists can turn to the wiki first for answers to questions, hopefully speeding productivity. As new issues come up and are resolved, useful information is added to the wiki. This is a new initiative so it is early to judge its usefulness, but it sounds like a tool that will be very useful, particularly to newcomers who might need help and to our veterans who won’t be called upon as much for mentoring.
Violence in Games: One of the top German gaming magazines asked me recently to take part in a discussion about violence in games. Apparently this is big topic in their country where games like Gears of War can only be purchased in adult entertainment shops next to the porn. I am not interested in making or playing games that are over-the-top violent but I understand that violence is a dependable way to add gravitas and drama to a story. I am uncomfortable using legislation to prevent others from making or playing the games they want.
I believe in personal freedom and in free markets. I think the game ratings system in place now is a reasonable guide. If an M rated game sounds upsetting, don’t buy it or let your children play it. If a particularly violent (or immoral product) is really successful, I think the real question would be why are so many people attracted to this subject matter, not whether the product itself should be banned or not.
Bruce Shelley