Tweet
Jon Shafer, Lead Designer of Civilization V has left Firaxis. Jon joined Firaxis in 2005 after being a Civ Fan and Civ Modder before. Jon has always been a respected member of Apolyton where he was involved among many other things in Civ3 demogames. Jon Shafer worked on Civilization IV, when Soren Johnsen was the lead designer. For Civilization V Shafer became the lead himself.
According to the Escapist Jon left Firaxis himself and was not let go by the company. "It appears that the departure is amicable to both sides as Shafer made sure to say that he left willingly and was not fired or pushed out."
Jon Shafer's response is quoted on Flash of Steel saying: "I very much enjoyed my time Firaxis, worked on many projects that I’ve very proud of and got to know a lot of amazing people. I’m appreciative of the opportunities provided by Firaxis and 2K, and hope to see (and play) more great games from them in the future."
Firaxis games comment on this same website: "We are grateful for Jon’s contributions to Firaxis and the Civilization franchise and wish him all the best in the future."
It is unknown what the future for the still young developer holds. Neither is it known what the impact will be on Civilization V and future patches or DLC. Apolyton hopes that Jon will not be lost for the Civ community! We wish you all the best for the rest of your career Jon!!
Discuss Jon's departure from Firaxis in our forums
-
Bring it on. The two-hundred-and-sixteenth episode of PolyCast, "What's Next", features regular co-hosts Daniel "DanQ" Quick, "Makahlua", Philip "TheMeInTeam" Bellew and "MadDjinn" are joined by returning guest co-host "DarkestOnion". It carries a runtime of 59m59s.
Recording live before a listening audience every other Saturday, PolyCast is a bi-weekly audio production in an ongoing effort to give the Civ community an interactive voice on game strategy; listeners are encouraged to follow the show on Twitter, and check out the YouTube channel for caption capability. Sibling show RevCast focuses on Civilization: Revolution, ModCast on Civ modding, SCivCast on Civ social gaming and TurnCast on Civ multiplay.December 13, 2014, 12:42 -
August 20, 2014, 19:33
-
An interesting article at The Escapist about Civilization and some of the goings-on behind the scenes at Firaxis:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/arti...s-Civ-V-Studio
I have a lot of problems with the methods Firaxis tested this with. Turning off barbs, limiting AI expansion ... those are two critical factors for how big an impact waiting to found your first city will be.
I myself like to move the other unit first, see if there's a good spot to move the Settler to in a couple of turns or less. A river hill is is hard to pass up moving to. The extra production from the hill will pay off the first move very quickly.
How about you? In what circumstances do you feel moving the Settler is a good idea?...March 1, 2014, 00:41 -
joystiq reports that Civilization V may get another expansion, based on a listing in the Steam Apps Database. Neither Firaxis nor 2K Games commented on this finding.
...January 16, 2013, 01:03 -
Civilization 5 Patch 1.0.2.13 has been released. That is the big patch announced for this fall. It contains many fixes and tweaks and also support for Windows 8 touch screen support. Here is the list with full patch notes highlighted are the things that were not in the announcement earlier this year:
BUG FIXES
General- Mod Browser - The "Get Mods" button is now hidden if the user has disabled the steam overlay.
Civilizations and Traits- Ottoman naval upkeep is now fixed. Save games that were started before the fix will not be corrected.
- German UA and Oligarchy social policy now work together correctly.
City States- Mercantile CS now only get a unique luxury for their first city (and not the cities they conquer). Unique luxury is removed upon capture (players can no longer get it by taking over a CS). Unique luxury is given back upon liberation.
- Prevent double counting of resources when an improvement is gifted to a minor civ, then the minor civ techs up to activate the improvement.
November 6, 2012, 18:47 -
A new Civilization 5 patch has been announced by 2K Greg on 2K Games Forums. Here are the Civ5 patch notes and what 2K Greg says about: Here's a fun surprise for you guys to read over the weekend: Patch notes for the upcoming "Fall Patch!" There's no ETA for this patch at the moment other than "fall"
There are some popular requests in here that I bet will make some of you very happy.
And so without further ado:
Modding Addendum
The DLL source code will be released with the fall patch, allowing modders to compile modified DLLs for their Civilization V mods.
BUG FIXES
General
Mod Browser - The "Get Mods" button is now hidden if the user has disabled the steam overlay.
...
September 29, 2012, 20:20
Well Jon is different.
If you remember the 6-month leadup to Civ5 release, Jon spent a lot of time at conventions, interviews, radio shows, TV, etc.