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Mike Bazzell: Focus on Firaxis: A Look Inside the Company

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  • Mike Bazzell: Focus on Firaxis: A Look Inside the Company

    Name: Mike Bazzell
    Title: Artist/Animator

    LDespot: What did you do for SMG?

    Mike Bazzell: Screamed Loudly.

    LDespot: What are you working on for Alpha Centauri?


    Mike Bazzell: The heart of the game: game screen graphics and talking to it once a day so the planet doesn't get lonely.

    LDespot: How did you end up at Firaxis?

    Mike Bazzell: I was pursuing more favorable job opportunities, answered Firaxis' ad in the newspaper and found them.

    LDespot: Are there any suggestions you would have for someone trying to get a job in the game industry in a position similar to your own?

    Mike Bazzell:
    1. Everyday strive to be better than you were yesterday.
    2. Respectfully open your own doors.
    3. The computer is a medium and art skills are fundamental.

    LDespot: Is there anything else you would like to say to the gaming community (This is your chance to vent, praise, or babble to the world)?

    Mike Bazzell: I'm just sittin' here watching the fire wheels go round and round.

    Previous: Jerome Atherholt - Next: Greg Foertsch

    Back to the Focus on Firaxis main page

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    • 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
    • Susan Brookins: Focus on Firaxis: A Look Inside the Company
      by Martin Gühmann
      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?...
      October 22, 2011, 18:55
    • Lindsay Riehl: Focus on Firaxis: A Look Inside the Company
      by Martin Gühmann
      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....
      October 22, 2011, 18:52
    • David Evans: Focus on Firaxis: A Look Inside the Company
      by Martin Gühmann
      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....
      October 22, 2011, 18:49
    • Mike Ely: Focus on Firaxis: A Look Inside the Company
      by Martin Gühmann
      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)....
      October 22, 2011, 18:45
    • Tim Train: Focus on Firaxis: A Look Inside the Company
      by Martin Gühmann
      Name: Tim Train
      Title: Producer/Designer

      LDespot: What did you do for SMG?

      Tim Train: My main contribution was writing, editing, shooting, and producing the multimedia footage in the game. This was a lot of fun, and involved combing through hundreds of hours of archival footage, as well as a trip to 1997's Gettysburg re-enactment for a little filming. I also assisted with the marketing\PR effort on the product, and worked on many miscellaneous development support tasks, such as manual writing, playbalance, and tutorials....
      October 22, 2011, 18:30
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