lucy-bradshaw
Latest
Maxis explains difficulties of removing SimCity's online requirement
Following word that SimCity will no longer require an Internet connection to function, lead engineer Simon Fox has posted a lengthy explanation of why it took so long for developer Maxis to strip out that much-maligned feature. "The original creative vision for SimCity was to make a game where every action had an effect on other cities in your region," Fox wrote. "As such, we engineered the game to meet this vision, setting up the player's PC (client) to communicate all of its information to the servers." Fox then addresses claims made by Maxis general manager Lucy Bradshaw that the game simply couldn't function offline. "Lucy once said that Offline wouldn't be possible 'without a significant amount of engineering work,' and she's right. By the time we're finished we will have spent over [six and a half] months working to write and rewrite core parts of the game to get this to work." To drive his point home, Fox explains that SimCity was designed from conception to periodically check in with the game's servers. This allows players' cities to communicate with one another (and transfer water, power, garbage and other utilities), as well as the entire SimCity universe. Removing this feature involves writing new code for the game to simulate this transfer of information and resources, which is why it's taken so long for Maxis to remove the online requirement. Finally, Fox thanks SimCity players for their patience. "We know you want Offline play in SimCity and we are really happy that we are finally getting ready to deliver it to you."
EA CEO Wilson puts Gibeau in charge of mobile, Soderlund on sports
Andrew Wilson has made his first big move as CEO of EA, re-establishing managerial roles and clarifying that all senior staff now report to him directly, an internal memo hosted on GamesBeat reveals. Frank Gibeau, formerly president of EA Labels, is now in charge of EA Mobile. Patrick Soderlund is still executive VP of EA Games Label, but he's now also head of EA Sports, the role that Wilson left to take over as CEO. Peter Moore remains brand president and Lucy Bradshaw keeps her role as head of EA Maxis, the developer of SimCity. Rajat Tenaja is still Chief Technology Officer, Blake Jorgensen is still Chief Financial Officer, Joel Linzner is still senior VP of legal and business affairs, and Gabrielle Toledano remains executive VP of HR. "Our priorities right now are simple – we must deliver on our FY14 plan, continue the transformation of our organization for our digital future, create amazing games and services, have a ruthless focus and execute," Wilson writes. "I will work closely with my senior management team to help drive these priorities through the organization. Each of these leaders will report directly to me in their roles."
SimCity GM: 'In many ways, we built an MMO'
SimCity has not had the smoothest of launches. Players were (understandably) frustrated by connection woes, most of which seemed to be due to the always-online component of the game. In an interview with Polygon, developers framed the always-online component as an integral part of the game structure, saying that "it wouldn't be possible to make the game offline without a significant amount of engineering work by our team." This statement was later thrown into question as a Maxis insider claimed that servers were "not handling any of the computation" of city simulation. Now Lucy Bradshaw, General Manager of Maxis, is stepping up to re-frame the situation. In a "straight answers" update today, she pointed out the gameplay reasons for building SimCity to be always connected. These include features like collaboration between cities in a region, social perks like world events and leaderboards, player gifts, and the global market. Additionally, cloud-based saves make for easy access anywhere. "In many ways," she concludes, "we built an MMO." Somehow, we don't think MMO gamers would agree
Maxis: SimCity's internet requirement not a 'clandestine' DRM strategy
Following claims yesterday that SimCity had been modified to run offline in a limited capacity, Maxis/EA general manager Lucy Bradshaw has since updated EA's official blog with a bulleted reiteration of Maxis' always-on design philosophy for the game.In the missive, Bradshaw dismisses claims that SimCity's internet connectivity requirements are in reality "a clandestine strategy to control players" while listing a few of the ways in which server connectivity is essential to the design of the game, though she does not directly address whether the game can be played completely offline in its current form."So, could we have built a subset offline mode? Yes," Bradshaw added. "But we rejected that idea because it didn't fit with our vision. We did not focus on the 'single city in isolation' that we have delivered in past SimCities. We recognize that there are fans – people who love the original SimCity – who want that."
Maxis: SimCity offline mode is 'just not possible'
@azbiker72 The game was designed for MP, we sim the entire region on the server so this is just not possible - SimCity (@simcity) March 9, 2013The issues barraging SimCity stem from its requirement that players are always online and connected to EA's servers, even if a player wants to experience the game alone. Making the game available offline could solve many players' issues, but that's "just not possible," developer Maxis General Manager Lucy Bradshaw said during a Twitter Q&A session."The game was designed for MP, we sim the entire region on the server so this is just not possible," Bradshaw said, in response to a question about offline modes. Previously Bradshaw responded to another question about an offline patch: "We have no intention of offlining SimCity any time soon but we'll look into that as part of our earning back your trust efforts."Making SimCity offline would be a significant undertaking, if it were in the cards at all. Bradshaw further reiterated the sentiment of a leaked internal memo, noting that EA wasn't responsible for SimCity's issues; Maxis was."Hey, this is on Maxis," she wrote. "EA does not force design upon us. We own it, we are working 24/7 to fix it, and we are making progress."Recent progress included increasing SimCity's server capacity by 120 percent, disabling "non-critical" game features, and a report that EA asked SimCity affiliates to stop actively promoting the game.
'The buck stops at the simulation' with new SimCity
"We're building a simulation that really captures the world we live in today, where your decisions go beyond the boundaries of the city." Speaking at an EA press conference in San Francisco tonight, Maxis Senior Vice President Lucy Bradshaw shared some of the high-level goals for the new SimCity game, coming to PC in 2013.Bradshaw recalled shipping the first city builder in 1989, and described the return of Maxis to the franchise proper with great enthusiasm. "It's been about ten years since we shipped the last, true SimCity by Maxis," she said. Despite that passage of time, the developer still seeks to impart inspiration in simulation. "The buck stops at the simulation," Bradshaw said.%Gallery-150003%
Maxis talks about Wright's departure; Will talks Stupid Fun Club
Will Wright's announcement that he was kind of leaving EA this week took the gaming community by surprise. Unsurprisingly though, Wright says the move was planned over the course of the last year with EA. "It's something that we've been in talks with EA for almost a year ... it's kind of a long-term plan and I was just in no hurry to do it," he told GameSpot. Lucy Bradshaw, VP and general manager at EA Maxis, echoed Wright's statements, telling GameDaily it's been a "life-long dream [for Wright to have a] small nucleus think tank."Funded by EA and venture capitalists, Stupid Fun Club is setting out not to develop just new games but to develop new IP across multiple mediums. Wright calls his vision of the club the "evolution of the entertainment industry," using Marvel and LucasArts as reference points and saying, "If I'm into Star Wars or Lost, I might go to the website or buy the toys .... It's the IP that really matters, that strand of consistency and quality through it." We've certainly heard this tune before, though never from such an acclaimed developer. It remains to be seen just how "stupid fun" Mr. Wright's club actually is, but we'll remain hopeful for now.Source 1 - GameDailySource 2 - GameSpot
Spore gets dated for September as DS details emerge
Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit. It seems that Spore has finally been given a release date (or at least, the DS, PC, Mac, and mobile phone versions were). The much anticipated game will be gracing our favorite dual-screened portable on September 7th. Yes, that's quite a long way away, but it's better than the "possibly 2009, but who really knows?" window we had before.We're wondering, though -- how many of you potential Spore buyers plan to get Will Wright's game for the DS? While there's been a lot of hype for the game, it's usually not on the handheld front. The lack of excitement might be slightly justified, however. Obviously, the DS and mobile phone games are going to suffer some cutbacks when compared to their computer counterparts.According to a Newsweek interview with Lucy Bradshaw, the vice president of Maxis and executive producer of Spore, the DS version will be called Spore Creatures and will focus mainly on creature creation. The title will also have a different, Japanese-based art style, and features "unique abilities" for the creatures in the game. The Wi-Fi will be similar to that of the PC and Mac titles, however, and allow players to trade or share their creations with friends.While the game might not be as deep as the computer ones, it still appears to be pretty epic, so having the option to carry it around at all times might be a good thing.Hey, and it beats getting the mobile phone version, amirite?[Via Joystiq]
