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It's ironic that a lot of the commenters here lack the basic comprehension skills required to see this is an old man lamenting his life's work because of a reas

It's ironic that a lot of the commenters here lack the basic comprehension skills required to see this is an old man lamenting his life's work because of a reason I struggle to pin down either - he was born to the wrong era - he didn't spend the time to create the demand for the ideas he peddled In any event: If you want to post something about how "he's not that smart": the problem is actually you. The dude's a legend, is incredibly bright, but can't articulate that well. But please, by all means waste your bandwidth being angry at an old man rationalising the long list of life decisions they have behind them

username90 6y ago
Nobody here is angry at him. He just comes off as a person who refuse to acknowledge that his ideas are dated, there was a very short time when his ideas were demanded and it was exactly when he was active. People bought and enjoyed his game for a couple of years, then they moved on and no longer wanted his style of games, and demand never picked up again. It is like how Einstein refused to acknowledge quantum mechanics, and if Einstein wrote a post about how his ideas are so much better than those who studied quantum mechanics and that he was just born in the wrong time then Einstein would be ridiculed as well. Not because Einstein isn't smart or didn't add a lot of value, but because that kind of post is ridiculous.
- piyh 6y ago
  There's so much ego involved. "I'm a misunderstood genius" is enough of a trope that it translates to "I'm above average intelligence, stubborn and can't relate to people" in my experience. >In 2018, Crawford announced that he had halted his work on interactive storytelling, concluding that it will take centuries for civilization to embrace the required concepts.[1] "No, it's the children who are wrong." Being married has taught me that in life you can be right all the time, or you can compromise and be happy. I can appreciate the people who are unbreaking in their resolve to make the world a better place, but his particular philosophical hill is not one I'd choose to die on.
- runarberg 6y ago
  Aside: Einstein (et. al.) wrote such a post (or a series of papers) as part of the Bohr–Einstein debates. Einstein was later proven to be wrong. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tafGL02EUOA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tafGL02EUOA
- greedo 6y ago
  It is fascinating how some style of games wither on the vine. When I was young, I was into combat flight simulators: EF2000, Falcon 4.0 etc. And wargames like Harpoon. People were building cockpits with realistic HOTAS setups, and it was amazing. I anticipated that with increasing computer (and GPU) power, that the future was bright. 20+ years later, MS Flight Simulator is about the only thing around. And while a good app, it's nothing like Falcon 4.0.
  - sudosysgen 6y ago
    I disagree. MSFS is far from the only thing around. There is also War Thunder, VTOL VR, and X-Plane. The first two are amazing and I suggest trying them in VR.
  - Scramblejams 6y ago
    For combat flight sims, in addition to the suggestions offered by sibling, I'd also recommend looking at DCS and IL-2. Great attention to detail, tons of well-made DLC available, online play is solid, and you can spend as much on your cockpit and controls as your retirement plans can stand. For example, I recently bought the F-14 DLC. A fan-made manual that takes you through the basics, in a mere ~500 pages (!), can be found here: https://www.mudspike.com/chucks-guides-dcs-f-14b-tomcat/ https://www.mudspike.com/chucks-guides-dcs-f-14b-tomcat/ Lots of manuals for other aircraft on that site too, check it out.
avindroth 6y ago
Yeah people nowadays are unnecessarily obsessed with expressing a "correct" opinion from their perspective. Sometimes you just can't comment on someone else's life work like that, especially if they have put their heart into it. It's really hard to work on the right things, and we should appreciate people having been steadfast in the direction they are heading in.
neogodless 6y ago
I think the posts focusing on what you consider to be within your control and influence are more useful than a bland judgement of "smart or not smart." You can be smart, but if you focus on external variables, if you choose to limit the efforts you'll put forth to create value out of your ideas, or spread knowledge that has value, or you put your ideas out there and they fail but you just blame everyone else - it doesn't really matter how smart you are or even if the ideas have value. It matters that you've taken whatever influence you have over the end result and handed it over to everyone else. Similarly, there's just not a lot of value of idly lamenting that your ideas are great but not recognized by others. That the world is "populated by idiots." Certainly, many of us have had ideas we cherished that didn't take off - most of us have seen smaller successes compared to Chris' game sales in the early 80s. That kind of success could certainly alter anyone's perception. Perhaps my own humble life has prevented me from becoming too focused on my own genius, but I also recognize the perspective from moments in my past. At this point, I feel like I'm fortunate to have a brain that works well enough to have the career I have, as well as the home life I enjoy. It's not going to make me super wealthy or even slightly famous, but I can extract a lot of joy out of my life. And it will not benefit me to complain that the potentially good ideas of my past will not be realized. But it's certainly possible as the balance of years ahead shrinks in comparison with years past, I'll find myself more focused on what could have been and wish the world did more to appreciate me.
kazinator 6y ago
Oh, he is "that smart"; but you have to be smarter than just "that smart" to be an actual misunderstood genius. What your wife says is not a statistically valid sample. Throngs of his peers in the same disciplines are, or have been, "that smart". Not everyone is celebrated as a genius.

username90 6y ago

Nobody here is angry at him. He just comes off as a person who refuse to acknowledge that his ideas are dated, there was a very short time when his ideas were demanded and it was exactly when he was active. People bought and enjoyed his game for a couple of years, then they moved on and no longer wanted his style of games, and demand never picked up again. It is like how Einstein refused to acknowledge quantum mechanics, and if Einstein wrote a post about how his ideas are so much better than those who studied quantum mechanics and that he was just born in the wrong time then Einstein would be ridiculed as well. Not because Einstein isn't smart or didn't add a lot of value, but because that kind of post is ridiculous.

piyh 6y ago
There's so much ego involved. "I'm a misunderstood genius" is enough of a trope that it translates to "I'm above average intelligence, stubborn and can't relate to people" in my experience. >In 2018, Crawford announced that he had halted his work on interactive storytelling, concluding that it will take centuries for civilization to embrace the required concepts.[1] "No, it's the children who are wrong." Being married has taught me that in life you can be right all the time, or you can compromise and be happy. I can appreciate the people who are unbreaking in their resolve to make the world a better place, but his particular philosophical hill is not one I'd choose to die on.
runarberg 6y ago
Aside: Einstein (et. al.) wrote such a post (or a series of papers) as part of the Bohr–Einstein debates. Einstein was later proven to be wrong. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tafGL02EUOA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tafGL02EUOA
greedo 6y ago
It is fascinating how some style of games wither on the vine. When I was young, I was into combat flight simulators: EF2000, Falcon 4.0 etc. And wargames like Harpoon. People were building cockpits with realistic HOTAS setups, and it was amazing. I anticipated that with increasing computer (and GPU) power, that the future was bright. 20+ years later, MS Flight Simulator is about the only thing around. And while a good app, it's nothing like Falcon 4.0.
- sudosysgen 6y ago
  I disagree. MSFS is far from the only thing around. There is also War Thunder, VTOL VR, and X-Plane. The first two are amazing and I suggest trying them in VR.
- Scramblejams 6y ago
  For combat flight sims, in addition to the suggestions offered by sibling, I'd also recommend looking at DCS and IL-2. Great attention to detail, tons of well-made DLC available, online play is solid, and you can spend as much on your cockpit and controls as your retirement plans can stand. For example, I recently bought the F-14 DLC. A fan-made manual that takes you through the basics, in a mere ~500 pages (!), can be found here: https://www.mudspike.com/chucks-guides-dcs-f-14b-tomcat/ https://www.mudspike.com/chucks-guides-dcs-f-14b-tomcat/ Lots of manuals for other aircraft on that site too, check it out.

avindroth 6y ago

Yeah people nowadays are unnecessarily obsessed with expressing a "correct" opinion from their perspective. Sometimes you just can't comment on someone else's life work like that, especially if they have put their heart into it. It's really hard to work on the right things, and we should appreciate people having been steadfast in the direction they are heading in.

neogodless 6y ago

I think the posts focusing on what you consider to be within your control and influence are more useful than a bland judgement of "smart or not smart." You can be smart, but if you focus on external variables, if you choose to limit the efforts you'll put forth to create value out of your ideas, or spread knowledge that has value, or you put your ideas out there and they fail but you just blame everyone else - it doesn't really matter how smart you are or even if the ideas have value. It matters that you've taken whatever influence you have over the end result and handed it over to everyone else. Similarly, there's just not a lot of value of idly lamenting that your ideas are great but not recognized by others. That the world is "populated by idiots." Certainly, many of us have had ideas we cherished that didn't take off - most of us have seen smaller successes compared to Chris' game sales in the early 80s. That kind of success could certainly alter anyone's perception. Perhaps my own humble life has prevented me from becoming too focused on my own genius, but I also recognize the perspective from moments in my past. At this point, I feel like I'm fortunate to have a brain that works well enough to have the career I have, as well as the home life I enjoy. It's not going to make me super wealthy or even slightly famous, but I can extract a lot of joy out of my life. And it will not benefit me to complain that the potentially good ideas of my past will not be realized. But it's certainly possible as the balance of years ahead shrinks in comparison with years past, I'll find myself more focused on what could have been and wish the world did more to appreciate me.

kazinator 6y ago

Oh, he is "that smart"; but you have to be smarter than just "that smart" to be an actual misunderstood genius. What your wife says is not a statistically valid sample. Throngs of his peers in the same disciplines are, or have been, "that smart". Not everyone is celebrated as a genius.