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On the Firaxis website two designer diaries for the upcoming Civlization IV expansion Beyond the Sword have been posted: one about a scenario called Afterworld and one about concept art.In the first article Tim McCracken, QA Manager and scenario designer, explains his reasoning for the Afterworld scenario, which is set in the distant future in an age where robots have transformed into malformed beasts and are eating humans(!):
[It`s] a tip of the hat to the Gollop brothers and the original X-COM team. As a big fan of all things horror, the atmosphere and ominous theme this game accomplished were dead on. I`m focused on replicating these elements. [...] There are no leaders. No cities. No technologies. It`s not the typical game of Civ. It`s Afterworld.
The second article is authored by Mike Bates, a concept artists and modeler, explains how the process of creating concept art works, using the new Spaceship Victory in BtS as an example:
One of the more interesting pieces of concept art I was asked to create for Civilization IV: Beyond The Sword is the new spaceship design (the result of a Space Race victory). It was to be a ground launched, very large vehicle capable of carrying several hundred passengers (and tiny bags of peanuts) to the next planetary system. For something like this, a bit of research goes a long way. It`s fairly easy to research a concept that`s based on existing technology; such as a spaceship, vehicle or building. I looked at the current state of spaceship design and technology, then tried to project where it might go in the future. Incorporating what I learned through my research into the design of my spaceship gave the "look and feel" some credibility.
You can read the full articles with more interesting details and of course a few concept art images on the official Firaxis website. Thanks to Dale for the news tip.
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