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).
LDespot: What are you working on for Alpha Centauri?
Mike Ely: For Alpha I'm overseeing the Secret Project movies, working on the web site (which will be cool when we get it rolled out...any ideas you have you can email to webmaster at firaxis dot com) and programming the Datalinks screen (the place where you get all of the info about game stuff).
LDespot: How did you end up at Firaxis?
Mike Ely: I knew a lot of the cool folks here from the MicroProse days, so it seemed a logical place to go after I left MPS last February. (Editor's Note: "last February" = February 1997)
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 Ely: Learn to work well in a team. Plunge in to whatever aspect of the job you're interested in...read books, play with the software and tools, etc. Keep asking yourself the most important question in game design...'is this cool?' Learn to move out of your own mind and see things as a player would.
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 Ely: This is a very cool industry, and I'm darn happy to be working in it.
Previous: Tim Train - Next: David Evans
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Mike Ely: Focus on Firaxis: A Look Inside the Company
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- Created by: Martin Gühmann
- Published: October 22, 1998, 18:45
- 0 comments
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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
Programmers and Designers
People that don't fit into the above categories
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.
...-
Channel: Inside Firaxis
October 22, 2011, 19:04 -
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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?...-
Channel: Inside Firaxis
October 22, 2011, 18:55 -
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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....-
Channel: Inside Firaxis
October 22, 2011, 18:52 -
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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....-
Channel: Inside Firaxis
October 22, 2011, 18:49 -
-
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)....-
Channel: Inside Firaxis
October 22, 2011, 18:45 -
-
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....-
Channel: Inside Firaxis
October 22, 2011, 18:30 -