Cheating is not as pervasive in modern games as it was during the ‘90s, but for at least one veteran developer a player using cheats is a sign that he has failed to do his design work well.
Sid Meier, the leader of the Firaxis development team, has told the Critical Path documentary team that, “If somebody's encouraged to use cheats…I've kind of failed as a designer. Because they want to play a different game than the game I'm providing for them.”
He added, “Trying to understand why people do that is part of our game design process.”
Firaxis has a number of extensive testing procedures during which Q&A personnel are encouraged to test the limits of the game and see whether they can break the game mechanics and end up with surprising results.
The team then takes the feedback and feeds them into the development process in order to create a game world that has clear rules that encourage players to respect and use rather than work to break them.
At the moment, Firaxis is working on a modern reboot of the XCOM series, which will keep the core elements of the original titles while introducing a number of modern elements.
The turn-based strategy game will include everything from tactical battles to research, unit recruitment and weapon manufacturing, all of it imbibed with the trademark horror of the series.
The new XCOM will arrive on the PC, the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 on October 9 in North America and three days later in Europe.
The company also recently released the
Gods & Kings expansion for Civilization V, the latest entry in its celebrated strategy game.
The expansion introduces religion and espionage to the game while also updating some other mechanics and giving players more options when it comes to civilization and leader choice.
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