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  • SMAC: Interview With Brian Reynolds

    SMAC: Interview With Brian Reynolds

    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....
    Go to post

  • SMAX: Interview With Tim Train on Alien Crossfire

    SMAX: Interview With Tim Train on Alien Crossfire

    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!...
    Go to post

  • SMAC Macintosh port: Interview With Brad Oliver

    SMAC Macintosh port: Interview With Brad Oliver

    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....
    Go to post

  • SMAC: Interview With Tim Train on SMAC's Art

    SMAC: Interview With Tim Train on SMAC's Art

    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....
    Go to post

  • SMAC Interview With Jeff Morris

    SMAC Interview With Jeff Morris

    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.    ...
    Go to post

  • Firaxis with Alpha Centauri at E3

    Firaxis with Alpha Centauri at E3

    LDespot: I had a chance to sit down with Sid and Brian at E3 and ask some questions concerning their latest game. Here are the questions and the answers I recieved:

    LDespot: Tell us more about unit configuration.

    Brian: Units in the game are fully customizable in any of five different categories: chassis, weapon, shielding, reactor, and special abilities. There are literally thousands of possible units as a result. Chassis determines the type of unit (land, sea, or air), and the number of movement points it has. Weapon is the offensive armament, or may be replaced by a non-combat package such as terraformer equipment, supply pod, colony pod, etc. Shielding is the defensive capability of the unit. The reactor determines the hit points, and more advanced reactors decrease the overall cost of the unit. Special abilities confer special bonuses on the unit, either at a cost or at a penalty to some other aspect of the unit. Cost increases exponentially with new features, so a unit with the best armor AND best weapon will cost much more than two units, one with the best armor and one with the best weapon. This keeps unit design interesting--there is never one clear choice to build, since you have to weigh cost issues as well as capabilities--do I want to build a lot of cheap, less powerful units or a few monster...
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  • SMAC: Interview With Brian Reynolds
    by Martin Gühmann
    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....
    October 29, 2011, 19:34
  • SMAX: Interview With Tim Train on Alien Crossfire
    by Martin Gühmann
    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!...
    October 28, 2011, 18:27
  • SMAC Macintosh port: Interview With Brad Oliver
    by Martin Gühmann
    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....
    October 28, 2011, 18:21
  • SMAC: Interview With Tim Train on SMAC's Art
    by Martin Gühmann
    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....
    October 28, 2011, 18:11
  • SMAC Interview With Jeff Morris
    by Martin Gühmann
    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.    ...
    October 28, 2011, 17:59
  • Focus on Firaxis: A Look Inside the Company: What is this anyway?
    by Martin Gühmann
    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.

    ...
    October 22, 2011, 19:04
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