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    SMAC: Interview With Brian Reynolds 

    by
    Martin Gühmann
    Published on October 29, 1998 19:34

    Q: First, our thanks for taking the time to answer these questions. Most call SMAC a "civ2 sequel", other say it's a "civ clone"(in a rather bad sense for some reason ), almost everyone agrees that SMAC is based on the Civ series. Was this your first intention?
    A: The Civ games are a great series, and we're really proud to have designed them. They're addictive turn-based strategy games and they have a lot of really strong gameplay elements. Since SMAC is also a turn-based strategy game it follows naturally that we've tried to include elements we think make for addictive gameplay in that kind of game. Since SMAC and Civ are both turn-based strategy games designed by the same authors, there will naturally be some similarities, but there are also many significant differences. SMAC certainly isn't intended to be a "sequel" or "clone" of Civ; it is a new game, the next generation of turn-based strategy game. ...
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    SMAX: Interview With Tim Train on Alien Crossfire 

    by
    Martin Gühmann
    Published on October 28, 1998 18:27

    Q: We understand that Alien Crossfire is sort of "your baby". Who from the SMAC team is also working on this?
    A: Chris Pine is our lead programmer for SMACX. He was a key part of SMAC's programming as well. Greg Foertsch is our lead artist; he handled quite a lot of the art tasks on the original SMAC. Jerome Atherholt, now our company's Art Manager, signed up to do all the new portraits in the same high-quality style of the originals he did for SMAC, along with many other miscellaneous tasks. Mike Bazzell has returned for some new unit animations, and Mike Ely is putting together the multimedia and backstory for the project. Dave Evans is responsible for all the new sounds in the game. Finally, Doug Kaufman, now full-time at Firaxis, is reprising his role as a designer on SMACX. And of course, Brian Reynolds has chipped in both his programming time and his invaluable design advice. All in all, most of the talent responsible for SMAC is working in some capacity for SMACX! ...
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    SMAC Macintosh port: Interview With Brad Oliver 

    by
    Martin Gühmann
    Published on October 28, 1998 18:21

    PERSONAL

    DanQ: Mr. Oliver, can you give us a brief background on your history in the computer gaming industry?
    What got you into it?

    Brad Oliver: I've done Mac programming for several years now, and I've always wanted to work on games instead of "boring" stuff ;-) To that end, I had sent off my resume to a few Mac gaming companies, and the net result was that I accepted a job working for Westlake Interactive. Westlake's main line of business is porting games to the Mac. ...
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    SMAC: Interview With Tim Train on SMAC's Art 

    by
    Martin Gühmann
    Published on October 28, 1998 18:11

    Q: Which graphics revisions do you like best? What were the main goals behind the two designs?
    A: We're really pleased with the new interface, which displays lots of information in an intuitive way, and is also flexible enough to be used for most all of the report screens. The first design was centered around the concept of moveable, resizable windows. To accommodate this, the graphics had to be simple and modular, so the user could move them around, stretch them, etc. Our artists told us that they could make a much cooler interface if only it were fixed in place. After a lot of playtesting, we decided that no one really resized their windows or moved them, so we would go ahead and make it fixed in place. Dave Inscore, a very dedicated artist who also created the cityscapes in the diplomacy screens, took it upon himself to redo the interface with excellent results. ...
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    SMAC Interview With Jeff Morris 

    by
    Martin Gühmann
    Published on October 28, 1998 17:59

    LDespot: How did you get started in the game industry?

    Jeff Morris: I guess it started when I got a part time job at the downtown San Francisco Software Etc. Computer games had been my all consuming passion for about a decade at that point, and I figured this was a good way to get my hands on more product (oh, and make money...). It was a terrible job, but it exposed me to the powerful role that retail outlets play in what computer games are available. It was the first time I really thought about the business of making PC games.

    About a year later, my girlfriend at the time gave a lecture at the Computer Game Developers Conference on 2D animation (she worked on Broderbund's Living Books brand). She had little interest in the convention as a whole, so I got her speaker pass for the rest of the day. I ended up at the Origin hospitality suite, since they were hands down my favorite company. I shmoozed a little and was given the impression that I might be "Origin material". I flew myself down there a few weeks later and applied to the Product Support department.     ...
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    Focus on Firaxis: A Look Inside the Company: What is this anyway? 

    by
    Martin Gühmann
    Published on October 22, 1998 19:04

    Brought to you by The 14th Brigade and Beyond Alpha Centauri

    What is this anyway?

    "Focus on Firaxis: A Look Inside the Company" is an inside look, via interviews, at the company that brought the world a little closer to the Civil War through Sid Meier's Gettysburg! and is now taking us to the stars through their latest work, Sid Meier's Alpha Canturi. SMAC, which is the subject of this web site, is a turn based game similar to Civilization and will be released by Firaxis sometime in 1998. These interviews, done in February and March of 1998, were meant to give you a closer look at the minds that make up Firaxis.


    Questions about Firaxis' present, past and future

    To the Interviews...

    Company Founders

    Jeff Briggs, BMOC (Big Man on Campus)
    Brian Reynolds, Designer for Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
    Sid Meier, Designer for Sid Meier's Gettysburg!

    Artists and Animators


    Jerome Atherholt, Artist/Animator
    Mike Bazzell, Artist/Animator
    Greg Foertsch, Artist/Animator

    Programmers and Designers


    Tim Train, Producer/Designer
    Mike Ely, Programmer/Designer (kinda)

    People that don't fit into the above categories


    David Evans, Sound Stud
    Lindsay Riehl, Marketing
    Susan Brookins, Master of the Miscellaneous

    Thanks...

    Thanks to all the employees of Firaxis that took time from their busy schedules to answer the questions. Special thanks go to Lindsay Reihl at Firaxis for helping to set this whole thing up and acting as a middleman (middlewoman, whatever). Thanks go to Susan Brookins for listening to me whine. Thanks also go to Mike Ely for being the super cool guy that he is. And of course thanks to the Gamestats Family for supporting this web site.

    Susan Brookins: Focus on Firaxis: A Look Inside the Company 

    by
    Martin Gühmann
    Published on October 22, 1998 18:55

    Name: Susan Brookins
    Title: Master of Miscellaneous

    LDespot: What did you do for SMG?

    Susan Brookins: Kept coffee, soda and snacks in good supply and planned the "shipping" party.

    LDespot: What are you working on for Alpha Centauri? ...
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    Lindsay Riehl: Focus on Firaxis: A Look Inside the Company 

    by
    Martin Gühmann
    Published on October 22, 1998 18:52

    Name: Lindsay Riehl
    Title: Marketing

    LDespot: What did you do for SMG?

    Lindsay Riehl: I worked with Origin's marketing and public relations department to get the word out on how cool Gettysburg! is. ...
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    David Evans: Focus on Firaxis: A Look Inside the Company 

    by
    Martin Gühmann
    Published on October 22, 1998 18:49

    Name: David Evans
    Title: Mr. Sound Guy

    LDespot: What did you do for SMG?

    David Evans: Sound fx, sound driver programming, recording, and anything else related to sound. ...
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    Mike Ely: Focus on Firaxis: A Look Inside the Company 

    by
    Martin Gühmann
    Published on October 22, 1998 18:45

    Name: Mike Ely
    Title: Technically Programmer/Designer, but in practice I do all kinds of stuff. I'm also the Firaxis Webmaster, which is a pretty fun job.

    LDespot: What did you do for SMG?

    Mike Ely: I did a lot of work on both of the manuals, created the tutorials, helped a little with the multimedia, and wrote the line draw routine used to draw the fences in the game (yes, I'm pretty proud of that last one). ...
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