450: Strategic Simulations & Saints Row - The Retro Hour EP450

This week, we chat with the amazing Dan Cermak, whose remarkable career has spanned key roles at Strategic Simulations Inc., Westwood Studios, and Volition. Dan takes us through his early days as a self-taught programmer, his love for military history, and the challenges of developing iconic strategy games like Silent Hunter for the C64 and other classic systems. We also delve into his time at Volition, discussing how Saints Row stood out from the crowd, the evolution of online multiplayer, and its lasting impact on the open-world genre. Contents: 00:00 - The Week's Retro News Stories 42:08 - Dan Cermak Interview Please visit our amazing sponsors and help to support the show: Bitmap Books - https://www.bitmapbooks.com Check out PCBWay at https://pcbway.com for all your PCB needs Take your business to the next level today and enjoy 3 months of Shopify for £1/month: https://shopify.co.uk/retrohour We need your help to ensure the future of the podcast, if you'd like to help us with running costs, equipment and hosting, please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://theretrohour.com/support/ https://www.patreon.com/retrohour Get your Retro Hour merchandise: https://bit.ly/33OWBKd Join our Discord channel: https://discord.gg/GQw8qp8 Website: http://theretrohour.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theretrohour/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/retrohouruk Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/retrohouruk/ Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/theretrohour Show notes: Bleem is back: https://tinyurl.com/yc7cttry Fake PS1 discs flood the market: https://tinyurl.com/csueseuz BBC found in dump ends up in museum: https://tinyurl.com/2xs8c95s Atom Controller: https://tinyurl.com/ydbw6fcw Unreal Tournament 99 Intro reimagined: https://tinyurl.com/mrckwf4r