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.

Q: For those who have tried the SMAC demo, do you think that they will be pleasantly surprised by the release of the full version of SMAC? In that respect, how does the full version compare with the demo in terms of gameplay and overal aesthetic appeal?
A: Very pleasantly surprised! The demo by necessity provides an extremely abbreviated sample of the full experience; the full game lets you use all the unit types, all the technologies, unlimited bases, no "demo time limit", and so forth. The full game also includes quite a bit of presentation and atmosphere which is missing in the demo for reasons of space.

Q: Knowing that Firaxis has some of the best graphic artists in the business, what do you believe are some of the factors that are contributing to some criticism of the art in SMAC? Do you believe that adapting to an alien landscape has anything to do with this?
A: We've been made aware of complaints about the demo being "too dark" on some monitors; the full version of the game completely addresses this issue through the addition of a "gamma correction" slider bar, which allows each player to adjust the game to his/her individual monitor.

For further graphic enhancement, we've also included hi-res graphics for the units in the full version (the lo-res graphics used in the demo are also available for those w/ slower machines).

Q: What do you think about the mindworm balance in the demo? Did any of the problems that have been reported show up in the beta rounds? If it showed up as a strategy in the betas, why didn't you teach it to the AI?
A: In the full version of the game, "mindworm farming" is still possible, but is more circumscribed -- you won't be able to take it to the extremes that are possible in the demo.