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Oh no, that's a shame. Now who's going to help complete Zynga's next game, Rollercoaster Tycoon I mean Rollercoaster Entrepreneur? Seriously though, good riddan

Oh no, that's a shame. Now who's going to help complete Zynga's next game, Rollercoaster Tycoon I mean Rollercoaster Entrepreneur? Seriously though, good riddance. The dude was responsible for helping rip off graphics from other games from sometimes smaller developers, I doubt this is much of a loss and more like an image boost if they can hire someone with some original ideas...

yread 14y ago
He's also designed Civ 1 and 2, Alpha Centauri, Rise of Nations http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Reynolds_(game_designer) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Reynolds_(game_designer)
danielbarla 14y ago
I'm not sure if he had anything to do with that. Wikipedia only credits a single game to him under Zynga, and that's "The Pioneer Trail". Perhaps someone else can comment on whether that game followed the same pattern of rip-offs as many of the others, but from the description, it seems to be a plain rewrite of the Oregon Trail. Anyways, Reynolds seems to have been (despite the credit generally going to Sid Meier) the lead designer of Civ 2 and Alpha Centauri, both of which are classics. Personally, I thought Rise of Nations was an even greater achievement, it successfully marries the style of Civ with Age of Empires.
freyr 14y ago
I don't know Brian at all (in fact, I never heard of him before now). Are you claiming Zynga's strategy of ripping off other games derived from Brian? According to Wikipedia, he's been the lead designer of a number of highly acclaimed games: Age of Empires 3: The Asian Dynasties (2007) (creative director) Rise of Nations (2003) (lead designer) Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (1999) (lead designer) Sid Meier's Civilization II (1996) (lead designer) Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender (1992) (lead programmer) I doubt his resignation will save Zynga, or fix its reputation.
EthanHeilman 14y ago
I hope your post is sarcastic but if not you should look up Brian Reynolds. He is one of the best designers in the industry. I had no idea that he worked for Zynga. "Although marketed under Sid Meier's name, Civilization II, Sid Meier's Colonization and Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri all credited Reynolds as lead designer. The credits for Civilization II and Alpha Centauri moreover imply that Meier had only advisory or peripheral participation." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Reynolds_(game_designer) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Reynolds_(game_designer) I really hope we get a Alpha Centauri II out of this.
- T-hawk 14y ago
  I've been dreaming and praying for an Alpha Centauri II for years, too. It could be done on the engine for Civilization IV or V, like the Colonization remake, and pick up on all the technological and gameplay advances in the franchise since SMAC. Alas, the constraint is that Electronic Arts owns the intellectual property for Alpha Centauri and isn't at all interested in reviving it. But Brian Reynolds leaving Zynga is an awesome piece of news, if it'll get him producing real games again rather than addiction-center manipulators. I seem to remember he joined Zynga genuinely believing that mobile-social-freemium was the future of gaming, which actually was a reasonable prediction in 2009, and it's also reasonable for that opinion to fall by the wayside now.
  - EthanHeilman 14y ago
    I think mobile-social freemium is here to stay, but it is less fashionable these days. Most of the blame is on Zynga for that, but I believe Brain Reynolds joined Zynga in good faith that they would help the gaming ecosystem.
- ansible 14y ago
  I really hope we get a Alpha Centauri II out of this. I really enjoyed SMAC when it first came out. There are some spiritual successors to it that have been out for a while. I'm currently giving Galactic Civilizations II [1] a try. So now you've got hyperdrive, and you are colonizing the galaxy. It was recently on sale for $5 USD on Steam. [1] http://www.galciv2.com http://www.galciv2.com
zalambar 14y ago
As others have pointed out; Brian is a well known and highly respected designer. He also served as the chair of the board of the International Game Developers Association (advocates of diversity, quality of life, and giving game credits to game developers among other issues). When he joined Zynga it was seen as a major image boost for the company. Please don't pile all of Zynga's faults on his shoulders. That blame should go to the people actually responsible (if he should have avoided participating in the company for any reason is a different issue). Disclaimer: I have worked with Brian. I don't know what motivated him to join Zynga. If you're looking for his history check out Bug Huge Games as well; a studio he helped found which was bought by THQ and threatened with closure in 2009 when Brian left to join Zynga.

yread 14y ago

He's also designed Civ 1 and 2, Alpha Centauri, Rise of Nations http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Reynolds_(game_designer) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Reynolds_(game_designer)

danielbarla 14y ago

I'm not sure if he had anything to do with that. Wikipedia only credits a single game to him under Zynga, and that's "The Pioneer Trail". Perhaps someone else can comment on whether that game followed the same pattern of rip-offs as many of the others, but from the description, it seems to be a plain rewrite of the Oregon Trail. Anyways, Reynolds seems to have been (despite the credit generally going to Sid Meier) the lead designer of Civ 2 and Alpha Centauri, both of which are classics. Personally, I thought Rise of Nations was an even greater achievement, it successfully marries the style of Civ with Age of Empires.

freyr 14y ago

I don't know Brian at all (in fact, I never heard of him before now). Are you claiming Zynga's strategy of ripping off other games derived from Brian? According to Wikipedia, he's been the lead designer of a number of highly acclaimed games: Age of Empires 3: The Asian Dynasties (2007) (creative director) Rise of Nations (2003) (lead designer) Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (1999) (lead designer) Sid Meier's Civilization II (1996) (lead designer) Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender (1992) (lead programmer) I doubt his resignation will save Zynga, or fix its reputation.

EthanHeilman 14y ago

I hope your post is sarcastic but if not you should look up Brian Reynolds. He is one of the best designers in the industry. I had no idea that he worked for Zynga. "Although marketed under Sid Meier's name, Civilization II, Sid Meier's Colonization and Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri all credited Reynolds as lead designer. The credits for Civilization II and Alpha Centauri moreover imply that Meier had only advisory or peripheral participation." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Reynolds_(game_designer) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Reynolds_(game_designer) I really hope we get a Alpha Centauri II out of this.

T-hawk 14y ago
I've been dreaming and praying for an Alpha Centauri II for years, too. It could be done on the engine for Civilization IV or V, like the Colonization remake, and pick up on all the technological and gameplay advances in the franchise since SMAC. Alas, the constraint is that Electronic Arts owns the intellectual property for Alpha Centauri and isn't at all interested in reviving it. But Brian Reynolds leaving Zynga is an awesome piece of news, if it'll get him producing real games again rather than addiction-center manipulators. I seem to remember he joined Zynga genuinely believing that mobile-social-freemium was the future of gaming, which actually was a reasonable prediction in 2009, and it's also reasonable for that opinion to fall by the wayside now.
- EthanHeilman 14y ago
  I think mobile-social freemium is here to stay, but it is less fashionable these days. Most of the blame is on Zynga for that, but I believe Brain Reynolds joined Zynga in good faith that they would help the gaming ecosystem.
ansible 14y ago
I really hope we get a Alpha Centauri II out of this. I really enjoyed SMAC when it first came out. There are some spiritual successors to it that have been out for a while. I'm currently giving Galactic Civilizations II [1] a try. So now you've got hyperdrive, and you are colonizing the galaxy. It was recently on sale for $5 USD on Steam. [1] http://www.galciv2.com http://www.galciv2.com

zalambar 14y ago

As others have pointed out; Brian is a well known and highly respected designer. He also served as the chair of the board of the International Game Developers Association (advocates of diversity, quality of life, and giving game credits to game developers among other issues). When he joined Zynga it was seen as a major image boost for the company. Please don't pile all of Zynga's faults on his shoulders. That blame should go to the people actually responsible (if he should have avoided participating in the company for any reason is a different issue). Disclaimer: I have worked with Brian. I don't know what motivated him to join Zynga. If you're looking for his history check out Bug Huge Games as well; a studio he helped found which was bought by THQ and threatened with closure in 2009 when Brian left to join Zynga.