Chris Sawyer rarely gives interviews, so I was incredibly shocked to find creator of Transport Tycoon and RollerCoaster Tycoon talking about his games, programming, and career.
Yeah this is what I thought too!! Without a date at the top it feels so sus, and like all of his I've already ready before, im not a hater or anything but this is just sus af m8
You never read this before, because I posted it today. The interview concluded this morning. It took me a while to format it. What else do you want to know? I see that the website stripped the date from all my articles, not just this one. So I need to fix that. That does not mean foul play. It just means I have to fix my website. At any rate it was great to hear from Chris. He is a legend.
Yeah it seems based on OPs comments that they are the interviewer and it is legit, but the way it was posted as if it wasn't OP's content is so weird that makes it seem like it's fake.
"Was incredibly shocked to find this" for a thorough interview you conducted is such a crazy way of phrasing it lol
Ahhh I see what you mean. Yeah that's a fair way to interpret that. I still stand by what I said though. I was shocked to find him talking. I don't know what made him decide to give an interview to me of all people but I'm not complaining. I was honored as this guy definitely shaped a lot of our childhoods, mine included. I'm still fascinated by some of his history that I've only now learned.
Retro Replay: OpenTTD and OpenRCT2 have helped keep the style and mechanics of your games alive with modern players. What is it like watching communities continue extending ideas and systems that originated in code you wrote so long ago?
Chris Sawyer: I have mixed feelings but admire the skill and commitment of those involved, and it’s amazing that there’s such a huge community still enjoying the game.
Yeah I posted a comment asking the same thing before I saw this one. I would assume he’s just very attached to his code and he doesn’t like the idea of people breaking into it and doing stuff to it. Thats just speculation though.
Considering how skilled the man was I can't blame him. It's just that Assembly isn't used for almost anything these days, unless it's for bootstrapping or demoscene stuff. At least he's taking it gracefully, unlike other programmers from the past.
But if people hadn't broken into the code and done stuff to it, would the game still have the same popularity it does today? I'd suggest not. Sure, he's not benefitting financially from that, but he's created a game that has enriched the lives of so many people for such a long time. You'd think knowing that would be such an awesome feeling.
I am permitted to ask follow-up questions, I think. In my initial request I asked for the possibility o a few follow ups and was not told no. I do not want to upset him. It is pretty wild that he even agreed in the first place. I think next week I may shoot him 5 to 10 follow up questions, and see what he says back. I will add this question of yours to the list man.
Maybe make a new post and people can submit questions and the top voted comments get added? Very cool you were able to speak with him. Thanks for sharing the interview
His interview has a comment section at the bottom of it. I may open it up, and after enough questions have been asked, send them over to his publicist. I'll be honest I'm not expecting any more participation. It's public knowledge that he doesn't like interviews. I have no idea why he agreed to mine. I'm just happy he gave us some of his time.
Yeah - I don't think I've ever seen an interview with him. Very lucky indeed. Thanks again for sharing - RCT was a hugely formative game for me as a child and I really appreciated hearing from the creator himself.
I’m curious to know more about his mixed feelings about the open versions of his games. I assume that he is very attached to his code and people breaking into it is maybe like going through his medicine cabinet or something.
Nice read, bit dissapointed that the interviewer didn’t ask follow up questions. I wonder why he has mixed feelings about openttd/rct and if he has plans to build other games.
Fantastic article. If Chris is ever reading this, your games definitely played a role in my passions and interests from a young age. I also want to make a shoutout to all others involved in the creation of your games (for example, the music from Allister Brimble)
Publishing a fake AI-generated interview would be an incredibly risky thing to do. I think it’s probably more the case that Chris has similar answers to similar questions he’s been asked over the years.
Here is a screenshot of his publicist sending his answers over in word doc format. You should down vote it 🤣. Why would I fake his interview? I didn't and wouldn't but that's not what you want to hear. And short of forcing Chris by gunpoint on here to tell you he wrote this, nothing I can say will satisfy you. Reddit is literally why people like Chris don't come on the Internet. He avoids these places because of toxic people. Also a reminder for me to stay off reddit. I'll delete this post and share it where it's appreciated. PS Jesus loves you.
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u/mushroom_rainbow 1d ago
When was this? Was this recent?? I couldn't find a date in the article.