GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS

Interview with Brad Wardell
(provided by Stardock)

Q: We've heard the history of Galactic Civilizations, why has it taken you so long to do a Windows version of it?
A: Many of our users ask us the same question. The main reason was that when I did GalCiv on OS/2, I really wanted to do a truly innovative game afterwards. As you can imagine, GalCiv on OS/2 had very low production values and outside of its AI, was pretty conventional. Luckily for us, the AI and depth it provided was crucial but I wanted to do something totally new. That totally new game was Entrepreneur. As it turned out, when Entrepreneur came out, OS/2 had gone down the tubes in the market and so we were kind of strapped for capital. The only thing we could do game-wise was with that Entrepreneur code which became The Corporate Machine [general release, February 2000]. Meanwhile, on the business side, things had gone very well with Object Desktop and its components like WindowBlinds so it was hard to justify putting in the time doing a game when the business stuff was representing 95% of our revenue.

Q: What is your goal with GalCiv?
A: I really want to see us make a game in which people feel like they're role playing. Too many games are thin. I mean, they may have a bunch of complex rules but each game feels like any other game. I really want to create a game in which after 3 months of playing, something totally new comes up. If I had an unlimited budget, I would have it be a DVD game where there were hundreds of 30 second cut scenes in it to explain some galactic event that has just occurred. I really would like to get the auto-story generator in that writes the epic of your game as it goes along.

Q: In what ways can a strategy game be epic?
A: Well, you see, the AI is "smart” because it does a lot of statistical analysis. It can tell when you've lost a battle or when some major calamity has occurred. So why not put that into words like have a cut scene or a story that's written where it says "And so in 2341, humanity faced its greatest setback to date with the defeat at Antares IV. The Drengin began their overwhelming counter attack that would require the humans to cede the Gamamine system to the Drengins. Meanwhile, what the humans were unaware of is that their friends, the Torians, were secretly supplying the Drengin with the Avatar class battle cruisers being used to destroy human forces…” You could have a cut scene that displayed a battle scene and treachery following it with text explaining it. The game is aware of these things happening, it's just a matter of writing a story engine. Like I said, if we had an unlimited budget, we'd do that. Instead, we'll do it in phases which will also demonstrate an advantage of the Drengin.net gaming system.

Q: Drengin.net, how does it benefit GalCiv?
A: Well, for one thing, it encourages developers (in this case me) to do more than simply release the finished game. Normally games are released, they come out with a bug fix or two and that's it. But on a subscription network like Drengin.net, we have an incentive to keep adding things to the game of value after release. So maybe in a GalCiv 1.3, for instance, I could get the budget to add in the story generating engine. Plus, it gives gamers a good reason to buy GalCiv if they see that it's continually being updated. BTW, GalCiv will be available stand alone and on Drengin.net, the user can decide for themselves which way works best for them.

Q: Is GalCiv going to be multithreaded like the OS/2 version was?
A: Probably but we're not sure yet. Only if it's necessary. Remember, by Christmas, people are going to be running P3-1ghz machines. What took 10 seconds to do on a 486 is instantaneous on a modern machine. And even if I triple the amount of cool stuff the AI is thinking of (which I plan to do), it still may be instantaneous. If it is, then there is no reason to do it. If it's not instant, then yes, we'll make it multithreaded.

Q: What are your plans after GalCiv?
A: Hard to say. I don't know if I will personally code any games after this. I am really more of a game player than a game writer. I am not a particularly great coder, I just tend to come up with "neat” ways of designing algorithms. I suspect that I'll be more into design after this. Being the lead developer on The Corporate Machine was very difficult and GalCiv is proving difficult. By night, I write the games, by day, I have to manage WindowBlinds, Object Desktop, DesktopX, ObjectBar, along with running Stardock Corporation. It's a 12 to 14 hour per day, 7 day a week job with the coding taking up an increasing amount of that time. It's a good thing we're self-funding, I don't think investors would be too crazy about me personally writing the code. J

Q: What sorts of games do you see Stardock and yourself making after this?
A: Well, with Drengin.net, we have the ability to create all sorts of neat games that others aren't making. I want to create a political strategy game, for instance. I want to create a "flexible” RPG game in which the game world is random each game because each segment of the game world is based on players having servers up where they designed the land. I want to do a true civilization simulator (Mobilization) that is only partly about warfare but takes into account other historical issues. Obviously, this all depends on whether Drengin.net is successful or not. Plus, there is the RTS version of GalCiv - Galactic Federations, which has to be done.

Q: What would Galactic Federations be like?
A: Basically Total Annihilation meets GalCiv in space.

Q: Any advice for other game designers?
A: Sure, don't think of yourself as a game designer. Be a game player. Don't design games you wouldn't want to play. Make a game that you wish somebody else would make. If someone else made GalCiv, I would have been happy so that I didn't have to do it. Love games so much that you are willing to code it. Don't do it for the money, do it because you love to play games.

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