"Firaxis Q&A" (Part 5/5)

[DanQ]

During ApolyCon '06 held in Timonium, Maryland last July, Firaxis Games Director of Creative Development Sid Meier, Designer/Programmer Soren Johnson and Senior Producer Barry Caudill answered attendee questions about the company, the Civilization series and computer strategy gaming in general. Recorded by event Chairman Daniel "DanQ" Quick, what they said is now being made publicly available in a series of installments.

In the last of five parts, Johnson begins by reviewing the process through which Civilization IV's development began -- by playing all previous titles in the series, including the Call to Power side series, followed by some other strategy titles. Related, open source options in particular Freeciv are also touched upon. Failing to get permission from copyright holders for inclusion of particular items prompting change, and the limits to what Friaxis could make available for fans to modify, are also addressed. How CivIV is updated and manipulating in-game animation are the final topics explored.

Available for listening in streaming 64kbps MP3 format, Part 5 runs for 17m25s (7.9MB); please note that due to the approach to recording, its technical quality is not ideal even after numerous post-production efforts but is by and large audible.