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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.

DanQ: What best describes your feelings on your being made head of the development of this port?
Brad Oliver: "Ohmigod, I hope they don't discover that I'm a complete fraud!" ;-)
Actually, I'm incredibly excited to be working on SMAC as I really enjoy playing the game. It hardly seems like work to be doing this, and that makes all the difference in the world.

COMPANY
DanQ: Why did Aspyr pursue the opportunity to work with Firaxis on a Mac port for SMAC?
Brad Oliver: It's difficult for me to comment on what Aspyr did, as I don't work directly for them. I was hired by Westlake (which is under contract to Aspyr) after the game had been signed. Having said that, they probably pursued it because SMAC is a kick-ass game, combined with how well the Civ series did on the Mac.

DanQ: How was the development team for this port then chosen?
Brad Oliver: Westlake was contacted by Aspyr to do the port. I had expressed interest in the game to Westlake, as I am a big fan of Civilization and games of that genre. It seemed like a good fit for all parties involved, and the pieces fell into place from there.

DanQ: What Mac platforms/configurations will this SMAC port require? In other words, what minimum system requirements are we looking at?
Brad Oliver: It's difficult to say this early into the development. One of the guidelines will be to make SMAC require a similar Mac configuration as the PC version, so probably a mid-range PowerMac will be the minimum.

DanQ: What price should gamers expect to pay for a copy of this port?
Brad Oliver: The pricing isn't an aspect that I have any say in, but I assume that it'll be very similar to that of the PC product when it was first released.

DanQ: Will there be a beta-testing period for this product? If so, will it be private or public?
Brad Oliver: Yes, and I believe it will be private. Hopefully there won't be too many bugs to kill ;-)

DanQ: Language support is a concern for some. What dialects will Mac SMAC support?
Brad Oliver: My understanding is that this is handled by Aspyr, so once Westlake signs off on it, it'll be in their hands to determine the translations. To be honest, I don't know but I would expect that SMAC will be no different from other Mac games in that regard, for better or for worse.

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