The room title is now "Central Command - Official Answer Room".

 

civivsoren([Civ IV] Soren Johnson) has entered the room.

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Hi everyone, this is Soren Johnson, lead designer of Ci4

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: uh... Civ4!

 

[Xfire] Xfyre: HI ALL

[Xfire] Xfyre: WE'RE ABOUT TO GET STARTED

[Xfire] Xfyre: I'LL HAVE EVERYONE FROM FIRAXIS INTRODUC

THEMSELVES NOW

[Xfire] Xfyre: ER...INTRODUCE

[Xfire] Xfyre: forgive all the typos ;)

 

[Civ IV] Mustafa Thamer: Hey, this is Mustafa, lead programmer for Civ 4.

 

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Hi, nice to be here. I'm Steve Ogden, and I was the Lead Artist on Civ IV.

 

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Hi, My name is Barry Caudill - Senior Producer on Civ IV

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Hi, this is Soren Johnson, lead designer of Civ4

 

[Xfire] Xfyre: I'd like to thank everyone for being here today :)

[Xfire] Xfyre: And your questions are welcome now....I'll be queuing up questions here, so there's no need to ask repeatedly

 

[Civ IV] Mustafa Thamer: Question: rogerrhino: What language is the game written in?

Answer: C++ and Python

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: DeAthKillZ^: Civ Iv Team, How long did it take you to create Civ IV,  what were your favorite attributes that you designed in the game, and what’s your favorite part of the overall game development?

Answer:  It took about 2 and a half years. The funnest part for me was working on the AI. It's almost like a game-within-a-game for me.

 

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Question: The_Weak: Are any of you disappointed with any features that were originally concepted for Civ4 that you were unable to implement in time for the product to be pushed out the door? Was there any pressure for a release date?

Answer: We had a really nice Palace Screen. I was sorry to see that Palace Screen go. It fell victim to short schedule in a way. Pressure? What pressure?  :)

 

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Question: [PCGF©] Fire_Storm: Is the future of games development in evolution or revolution? 

Answer: Yes. 

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: [206]CyberKiL: How has the game changed from the previous Civ games?

Answer: yes

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: Profett: Any words of advice for one aspiring to work as a game designer for one of the great independent game studios?

Answer: The greatest thing now for aspiring game designers is that games are so moddable, you don't need to start from scratch. If you want to prove to a company that you are a capable designer, take a game, make a great scenario, popularize it, and then you have something concrete for your resume. It's like starting ahead...

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: You should be designing games. Too often, people want to be game designers, but they have nothing to show.  Everyone has ideas...game designers act on those ideas.

 

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Question: darthwizzade: Are there any hidden things you put in there as inside jokes to each other?

Answer: Small, tiny things. We were here late one night, and I was working with Nick Rusko on the Supermarket building. When he wasn't looking, I changed the name on the sign to Rusko's. *pushes glasses up on nose and giggles*

[Civ IV] Mustafa Thamer: Another hidden thing - there is a cheat code that is

based on a nearby food joint...

 

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Question: RLacey: If you could work on one non-Firaxis series

of games, what would it be?

Answer: Sid Meier's Barbie Fashion Designer, no DOUBT

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: The Legend of Zelda

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: Jimmy7: Why, in civ4, do you have to have the 9 squares affected by a nuclear weapon within your sight, and cannot have any of your units within the area to look at what you are nuking?

Answer: It's not a matter of looking...you just can't nuke your own units.

 

[Civ IV] Mustafa Thamer: Question: -=X-Supreme-HC=-: What do you think is the greatest improvement from the previous Civilization game?

Answer: Greatest improvements include: 3D, extensive moddability, built-in multiplayer.

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: I can't say it's the BIGGEST improvement, but I worked on the art, and as an artist, I am proud of the color and contrast we got into the game. I felt the previous versions were very beige. I know I would be more likely to want to see this game, had I not worked on it...

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: |HsR|=Rufus=: Why didn't you make it a universal ability to pay to hurry production?

Answer: It was a very natural fit for Civics, we wanted the government system to impact the game as much as possible, and that was clearly one place it could have a big impact.

 

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Question: |37th| Trigger™ [T]:  Did you guys enjoy creating civ 4, and the rest of the civilisation series?

Answer: I have been involved in every version of Civ since Civ II: Multiplayer Gold and I still have fun with it.  Obviously, it's not all fun and games (har) but we definitely love what we do.

 

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Question: prkchpsndwiches: What games do you guys like playing when you're not indulging in Civ4??

Answer: Battlefield, and, curiously, Oddworld...

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Ratchet and Clank, Paper Mario, that lawyer game on the DS,

GUITAR HERO!!!

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: BF2, WoW, lots of DS games, God of War

[Civ IV] Mustafa Thamer: Other games I play lately are a lot of GameCube titles with my kids, looking forward to the next Zelda.

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: wish there were more good strategy games!

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: tispe: How do you feel about people using cheats in Civ4 such as the rosebud cheat in Sims games?

Answer: We don't really think there is such a thing as cheating in single-player... people should be able to play the game however they want.

 

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Question: -{DwR}-Rct.|ToySoldier|: When you created Civilization, did you have any idea it would be such a successful hit?

Answer: When you start playing multiplayer and everyone is talking trash...you know it's going to be good :)

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: [206]CyberKiL: What other RTS games have inspired some of the new content in Civ4?

Answer: We've played a lot of AoK internally, which definitely influenced our interface design...

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: AoK was KILLING me there for a bit. BEAUTIFUL

looking game

 

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Question: uatgprogrammer: How much of interaction between the different sides (art, programming, design) was there to get this game finished?

Answer: LOTS. Our offices are right next to each other, and we're all into IM, email, shouting at each other across the hall... whatever it takes

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Communication is the single biggest potential bottleneck when working with a large team.  It's my job to make sure people talk to each other.

[Civ IV] Mustafa Thamer: There is always alot of interaction to bring a cohesive vision to fruition.  Both art and programming was getting input from design and programming and art were talking constantly to get the look and performance we wanted.

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: |HsR|=Rufus=: Why did you guys choose to have dual leaders choices for some civs?

Answer: There are some civs that lend themselves more to "which leader should they choose" arguments more than others, so those are the ones we chose to have multiple leader heads.

 

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Question: -=X-Supreme-HC=-: While creating the game, did you keep creating and adding new ideas or did you have all ideas ready beforehand?

Answer: We use an iterative process when we design our games so things can change (even drastically) throughout the process. I think they show excellent judgment.

 

civivsoren([Civ IV] Soren Johnson) has left the room.

 

civivsteve([Civ IV] Steve Ogden) has left the room.

civivsteve([Civ IV] Steve Ogden) has entered the room.

 

civivsoren([Civ IV] Soren Johnson) has entered the room.

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: test

 

[Xfire] Xfyre: Hi Soren :)

 

[Civ IV] Mustafa Thamer: Advice to coders wanting to get into games:  Play a lot of games and decide what area of game programming interests you.  You probably want to brush up on your math and make sure you have a good knowledge of c++. Start writing your own games also...

 

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Advice to artists wanting to get into games - work on art, art, art, but also make sure you develop a good set of technical skills. This business is getting increasingly technical. It's not just textures on polygons anymore...

 

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Question: Praetorian: Did you always want to be a game developer or did it just seem like a good thing to do since it is the "In" thing these days?

Answer: I always loved games but it didn't become a career choice until I answered an ad in the paper for testers at Microprose.

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Being a game developer is the 'IN THING' these days!? - Wow. I'm hip, who knew?

[Civ IV] Mustafa Thamer: I originally wanted to go into photorealistic graphics for movies, but eventually became more interested in real-time applications, especially as the two mediums are getting closer in terms of visuals.

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: test

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: |HsR| king: How much work did the AI take?

Answer: Took a lot of work... it was what I spent most of my time on during the last year of the project. It's not just the time to write it, it's the time to test it. Takes about 2 hours to run a full test game (7 AI, standard map), so I did many, many iterations of that

 

[Civ IV] Mustafa Thamer: Question: ︻┳═一 r0fL_: what if any certifications do you have for programming?

Answer: None, other than a BS and MS in comp sci and 15 years of game and graphics programming exp.

 

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Question: Arsenal.Bleh: Are you going to sponsor any multiplayer tournaments?

Answer: Yes :-)  Keep an eye on the Civ IV page

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: Scary: You guys have won some GOTY titles, how did you feel?

Answer: It feels very nice!

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: OVER THE MOON. Moose and I came from another game company, and we worked our tails off on titles no one saw. That's awful. This is really incredible.

[Civ IV] Mustafa Thamer: GOTY feels great - thanks for your support!

 

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Question: Praetorian: If you had a limitless supply of resources what would be a general upgrade for the next civ game, Graphics, Realism, Famous Voices?

Answer: SHATNER!!!!

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Holography. All this talk of Realtime 3D... let's see REAL 3D! Yeah!!!!

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson:  Question: prkchpsndwiches: How would you describe a typical work week?? Is it a 9-5 job??

Answer: I'm usually 11-11...most people stay pretty late near the end.

 

[Civ IV] Mustafa Thamer: Question: Ch3m!c4L: Have any of you ever worked on FPS games or would want to?

Answer: I did some ports of FPS games in the old days, such as Doom.

 

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Question: Arsenal.Bleh: What separates civ 4 from other games?

Answer: The Box. There are no other games shipped on the CD with it...

 

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Question: |HsR| king: did you make the game ready to be modded out of BOX and will there be a  kit?

Answer: It is very moddable out of the box, but, we will also be releasing the SDK in 2006 to make it even more moddable.

[Civ IV] Mustafa Thamer: It's definitely extremely moddable out of the box with a scenario editor, xml and Python scripting available.  Soon there will be an additional kit to allow the game and AI code to be modified as a .dll.

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: tispe: has the music influenced any aspect of the game in your opinion??

Answer:  I had a lot of fun picking out which pieces to use for each era. I think it adds a lot to the flavor and atmosphere of each of the eras (and encouraged us to have 6 separate eras instead of Civ3's 4...)

 

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Question: kylethebold88: What other genres (if any) would you like to work on?
Answer: Katamari Damaci is a fun sort of genre-bending or genre-defying title. It'd be great to actually create a new genre, I guess.

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: [D]Mr Cream T: What’s your favourite Civ to play as?

Answer: Indians... I like the Fast Worker. :)

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Japanese. Hands down. Samurai. Nuff said.

 

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Question: |HsR|=Rufus=: Is there anything that you would have changed, taken out or added in that you didn't have enough time for?

Answer: I miss the Palace Screen we planned out and concepted, and hated losing some of the Leader Heads.

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: rogerrhino: Have any of you ever pulled more than a 24 hour shift in the creation of this game?

Answer: I did 2 over the course of three days right at the very end... It's Red Bull's fault... (I had never had it before and made the mistake to drink one at 6am... no use sleeping then!)

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: I have a family...so I only worked some 16 hour days

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Family guy, too. Boring, I know. 16 hour days, some 18 hours... not much more than that.

 

[Civ IV] Mustafa Thamer: Question: Praetorian: What would be a good technical school to go to if you were interested in becoming successful developers such as yourselves?

Answer: I don't know about tech schools, but a solid program in comp sci should be all you need to be a programmer.

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: BlindFolded: What game was your favorite on the NES console?

Answer: Bionic Commando! I can beat that game in less than an hour!

 

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Question: The_Weak: What would you do for a Klondike bar?

Answer: Is it the kind with Crispies on it? ANYTHING

 

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Question: [SWAT]Josh: Are the sounds an important part in Civ?

Answer: Sound and music are always highly underrated in the player experience. 

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: YES. Most people don't realize the value of sound. I worked with a tech chief for a bit who used to joke about the unimportance of sound: "That's why they're called VIDEO games..." Watch a movie with the sound down sometime. Play CIV IV without the sound sometime. It's a vital part of the experience

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: [206]CyberKiL: What do you think would be an interesting theme for a Civ4 Mod?

Answer: Giant Death Robots!

 

[Civ IV] Mustafa Thamer: Question: |37th| Trigger™ [T]: Did you face any problems creating the game?

Answer: Technically we had a number of challenges, including bringing the Civ world into 3D, making the game architecture data driven and moddable, getting globe view to work well, supporting low-end machines considering it's a huge game that has to be in memory.

 

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Question: kylethebold88: Are you all on the dev team friends? Do you spend time at LAN parties and whatnot?

Answer: We're all together right now and we could have done this from home. :)  I think we have a great bunch of guys here and it's a pleasure to hang with such great people.  Soren, where's my 20 bucks?

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: [SWAT]Josh: What should would make me buy Civilization IV compared with Civi 3? What has been added to persuade me to to buy it?

Answer: Multiplayer, Religions, Civics, Promotions, Great People, Better AI, Scenarios, More Game Choices, Open Tech Tree, Fixed Exploits

 

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Question: Piotr[31stMEU]: Is being a dev the only job you have?

Answer: I am also a musician.

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Being a dev is the hardest job you'll ever love. TM.

 

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Question: Ch3m!c4L: Have any of you actually seen this so called "Sid Meier"?

Answer: [response deleted by MEIERbot]

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: I have seen Sid Meier's Human

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: Tals: Is the PTBS/PITBOSS server still in development, if so any ETA and can we have some tidbits on what we can expect specs etc - If not please say :)?

Answer: we've been working on it recently. It should be available soon, and the system specs for it are low since it's just a console app (it's not running any graphics or sound...)

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: Cujo_8931: Are You Planning To Make A Civ 5?

Answer: If you guys want it!

 

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Question: prkchpsndwiches: Who created the music and which programs did you use??

Answer: The music was created by several people (the original music).  Mark Cromer, Michael Curran, Jeff Briggs, and Christoper Tin all contributed.  Internally, we use Digital Performer, Mach 5, and Sound Forge mostly but there are lots of others.

 

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Question: Predator5: How is Sid Meier? Is he nice or what?

Answer: Geez yeah. And I'm not just saying that because he's my boss. Really. (Sid, you listening?)

 

[Civ IV] Mustafa Thamer: Question: Player: Why were the earlier (and still persistent) memory leaking errors overlooked before release, and what are the plans to deal with the problems that still exist for many gamers?

Answer: Regarding memory leaks that were overlooked... Civ was extensively tested and we would have never shipped the game if we knew of any crash or leak issues.  What most people call a memory leak is really the game simply taking up additional resources as it progresses.  However, we were able to make significant reductions in memory usage which will be available in the next patch (in final testing now).  This should improve performance and stability for low-end machines.

 

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Question: bfguttlecraw: How many of you have ever beaten the game on Diety?

Answer: Soren IS deity difficulty...and I've never beaten him

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: |HsR| king: How will you handle cheating in the game? Will you use some thing like punk buster?

Answer: Civ4 is peer-to-peer so Punk Buster is not really appropriate. You can't just add units own your own machine in mp or the game will go OOS...

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Question: prkchpsndwiches: Wow you guys went nuts on the music....props!

Answer: Yeah, we're all pretty stoked about that. Glad you liked it!

 

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Question: BlindFolded: What music do you enjoy?

Answer: Jazz, Rock, Classical, Armenian Folk Songs...lots of stuff

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Two words: Shatner, Nimoy

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Music - you should SEE Soren's CD collection. I think he could give most radio stations a run for the money

 

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Question: tispe: After such a long workday, what do you do to relax and release the stress (if any)?

Answer: Hug my family, play some console games...go to bed.

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Play music.

[Civ IV] Mustafa Thamer: The best way to release the stress is to read the forums...ha

 

[Civ IV] Mustafa Thamer: Question: Player: Mustafa, will upcoming patch deal with memory issues on higher end machines? I'm running 1 gig of RAM and a 128MB 9600 ATI series graphics card; huge maps are down-right unplayable. Will the upcoming patch resolve these issues for my computer as well?

Answer: Regarding memory usage in the patch and high-end machines.  The patch will reduce memory usage from 20 to 50% depending on settings.  You should not have the same kind of problems with late games or huge maps. 

 

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Question: win32/syntax.E: How long did it take to make one of the models used for the leaders?

Answer: 2 weeks to model, texture, and normal map and two weeks to animate generally.

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: [206]CyberKiL: Do you check out the media on your games e.g. PC Gamer, Websites?

Answer: I hate to admit it, but I check metacritic everyday...

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Constantly

 

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Question: █▓▒Evan▒▓█︻┳═一: If Civilization were to be a Online RPG like Everquest and World of Warcraft, what features would it have?

Answer: CONSTANT LEVELING!!!

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: A geeky Level 64 Mage who would wipe out other civs.

 

[Civ IV] Mustafa Thamer: Question: Predator5: Would you make a console version of civ4?

Answer: I think a console version of Civ4 could be very cool.

 

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Question: DeAthKillZ^: What kind of computers do you use?

Answer: PCs. However, we do allow Macs here. For, you know, the music guys and such. *ahem*

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: I'm still trying to keep my Amiga 500 viable.

 

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Question: HarbingerOfDoom: Are you gods?

Answer:  I think this one answers the Religion question

 

[Civ IV] Mustafa Thamer: Question: skywalker9952: I know it’s a hard question, but can you tell us more about the technical issues you faced at launch, was it the 3d engine, new publisher, had to get it out before Christmas?

Answer: Regarding tech issues at launch - the main issue we had was a conflict with a graphics driver.  To this day neither Firaxis, 2K, nor ATI can repro the problem with current drivers, but still users reported the problem.  There are always going to be issues like that with the wide variety of PC systems people have.

 

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Question: HarbingerOfDoom: Why can’t I stop playing Civ4? Is this some kind of evil plot?

Answer: Yes.

 

civivsoren([Civ IV] Soren Johnson) has left the room.

civivsteve([Civ IV] Steve Ogden) has left the room.

civivsteve([Civ IV] Steve Ogden) has entered the room.

 

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Question: Predator5: Did the original civ. really save someone’s life?

Answer: I don't know but it's ruined a lot of marriages.

 

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Question: Wilson_WWSC: Why are they leaving?

Answer: Sorry. We had a little technical glitch. It’s all under control now.

 

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Question: ~Gimp261~: How close is Civ IV to the Civilization Board Game?

Answer: Depends on how close you put them on the shelves...

 

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Question: uatgprogrammer: If you were to create an entirely new game, in what genre would it be, or would it create a new one?

Answer: Yes, it would be a new genre and the acronym would be hui. The first letter stands for Heuristic.

 

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Are we married? Yes. But not to each other.

 

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Question: darthwizzade: Do you hate myspace?

Answer: I LOVE being on MySpace. I HATE dealing with the goofballs on MySpace. Evidently half of them are supermodels and the other half are dirty old men. 17 year old dirty old men...

 

civivsoren([Civ IV] Soren Johnson) has entered the room.

 

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Question: |HsR| king: When you where testing the multiplayer part of the game did you have any inner office tourneys?

Answer: No, that would have pushed the release date back about 6 months.

 

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Question: ︻┳═一 r0fL_: Steve you’re my idol, will you marry me?

Answer: re: idol, marry... OK Foertsch, cut it out.

 

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Question: TM Surge: Will you have my babies?

Answer: We will have your babies play Civ

 

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Question: tispe: Are there any characters in the game that were modeled after anyone on your team?

Answer: No, we are too ugly for that :)

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Well, there's the Tutorial God, of course. That looks a lot like MEIERbot...

 

[Civ IV] Mustafa Thamer: Question: Player: Regarding modding, why was compatibility over multiple mods so over looked? It seems if you want to combine 2 or more mods, you need to make a brand new mod to encompass the other mods or you're bound to get conflicts. Are there any plans to deal with this?

Answer: You are responsible for handling the merging of multiple mods yourself.  Having the game automatically handle combining mods could l lead to unwanted side effects and numerous problems.

 

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Question: |HsR| king: What other RTS game do you play and what’s your favorite?

Answer: LOTS, AoE, Warcraft, Warhammer, RoN,...

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: AoK was a lot of fun... looking for some new, different RTS's...

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: {WPC}Alucard: Is combat any better in Civ 4? In the other Civs a Bowman could kill a tank, to me that is really unrealistic and stupid. I also felt that combat was to simplistic, is that improved at all?

Answer: Civ4 uses a form of firepower from Civ2 where stronger units hit for more hit points, so older units are less likely to win. In the next patch, we will also be showing exact combat odds (thanks to some help for DeepO, a fan) so that people can anticipate combat better. Combat in Civ4 is a lot more complex due to the promotions and unit-vs.-unit bonuses

 

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Question: [206]CyberKiL: Do you get angry when you see your original ideas in other RTS games?

Answer: I dunno about that, but I was amused after we released our first couple of Wonder Movies that some TV Commercials came along with the same gag - building wonders from blueprints in time-lapse. We did a little victory dance...

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: No, because we'll steal ideas right back. :)

 

[Civ IV] Mustafa Thamer: Question: Hambo: What do you enjoy most about your job?

Answer: Working with talented people, developing new systems, working on great games in a fantastic environment. Outside of work, I'm interested in hanging out with family, mixed martial arts, going to the gym, tech stuff.

 

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Question: Ch3m!c4L: Would you like life to be like Civ games?

Answer: Uh... isn't it?

 

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Question: Cujo_8931: Question: Between PS3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Revolution which would you rather release a game for cheese or ice cream?

Answer: YES

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: How bout Cheese flavored Ice Cream?

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: [OvC]Guardian: How did you get started on the development?

Answer: The first thing I did was actually play all the TBS's available (including all the Civs, SMAC, HoMM, MOO, Advance Wars, etc.) just to get a sense of what TBS fans might expect. Then, I looked for all the 'unfun' and needlessly complex things from Civ3 that could be cut to clear space for new stuff...Then I figured out what the new stuff should be: religion, great people, civics, promotions, more city improvement (windmills, winery, etc...)

 

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Moose likes grappling. I've seen him put large muscle bound men on their keisters. Don't mess with him.

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: And Barry's a brown belt. You don't want to argue with a Producer who knows how to kick tail.

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Hoo HA.

 

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Question: |HsR|=Rufus=: If you could have any state become a country in which you are a leader which would you choose?

Answer: State of consciousness.

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: I'd choose Ogland, the little known state in New England. I'd call it Ogtopia, and there would be musical instruments, wine, and big fun for ALL.

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: Xeno: Have you ever played galactic civilizations? Answer: Yeah, it's a good game, and I'm looking forward to the sequel as well. Not a whole lot of TBS's out there... we need more!

 

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Question: ︻┳═一 r0fL_: Steve, you are a funny guy why didn’t you become a standup comedian?

Answer: Because I like to sit down. Thank you, I'll be here all week.

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Don't encourage him....the management

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Who's funny now?

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: TheTerminator: What are your thoughts on Dihydrogen Monoxide?

Answer: I drink a gallon each day

[Civ IV] Mustafa Thamer: It should be diluted

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: It should be deleted.

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: Predator5: What would you add in an expansion?

Answer: We've got a survey up on firaxis.com right now about it... we're certainly looking at new civs/leaders, sp and mp scenarios, some new features...

 

[Civ IV] Mustafa Thamer: Question: [SWAT]Josh: To finish off with , Do you think this game is a success?

Answer: I think it is, no doubt.

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: Xeno: Is Civ 4 the most pivotal game you have ever made?

Answer: Yes! I think it'll be played for a long time.

 

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Question: |HsR| king: Do you guys look at anime and if so what do you like?

Answer: I do. I originally didn't like it much, felt it was like looking at unfinished animation. I have since come to appreciate it more, starting with Miyasaki...

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: prkchpsndwiches: Do you guys get a good break between working on different games, or once one is finished do you dive right into the next???

[Civ IV] Mustafa Thamer: Between games we need some time to decompress and then it's off to the next one.

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: It's not that simple.  Right now, we are in support mode but I am also working with Sid on his next project...it never stops.

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Sometimes. Sometimes not. The guys rolled over from Pirates to Pirates XBOX to Civ IV. That was tough.

 

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Question: SxG: If you could star in any movie, what would it be based on, who would direct, and who would co-star (any hot actresses you guys have always dreamed of meeting)?

Answer: A remake of Blade Runner, but I'd have myself remade as Yul Brynner first and get a little Westworld crossover there. Female? Hmm. No comment. There are sooooooo many.........

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: -=X-Supreme-HC=-: Did you enjoy creating Civilization IV for the most part? Were you excited when you learned that you would be creating it?

Answer: Very much so... I had been hoping to lead design Civ4 every since working on Civ3...

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: [206]CyberKiL: Has the Dev Team ever thought about creating a non-RTS game?

Answer: um...

 

[Civ IV] Mustafa Thamer: Question: rogerrhino: Is the place that you work at resemble anything from Office Space? 

Answer: I think so, didn't you get the memo?

 

[Civ IV] Mustafa Thamer: Question: tispe: Did you change anything in Civ4 because it would spawn controversey (ie: Jack Thompson)?

Answer: Arabians / Saladin

 

[Civ IV] Mustafa Thamer: Question: [OvC]Guardian: Thanks guys, are any of you hardcore gamers or do you just like relaxing and seeing family?

Answer: Many guys are hardcore games here...Lately I've been spending more time with family instead.

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: Dave [BE]: What's the biggest competition for CIV4? And if there is one, why should I go for CIV4 instead of the competition? Do you think there can even be competition for Civ4?

Answer: I dunno... AoE, maybe? It's an RTS, but to the consumer, they probably look similar.  There certainly is nothing else that lets you TAKE OVER THE WORLD!

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: Xeno: Do you remember Westwood Studios - Command and Conquer?

Answer: I remember Mars Saga! Great game...

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: [206]CyberKiL: Is a new Sim City in the works?

Answer: Yes! You heard it first here, folks!

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: I thought it was SinCity...

 

[Civ IV] Barry Caudill: Thanks guys...I have to get back to work.  Keep on Civving

 

civivbarry([Civ IV] Barry Caudill) has left the room.

 

[Xfire] Xfyre: Thanks Barry!

 

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: OK, I'm out of here, too. Thanks for putting up with my bad jokes, and we'll see ya round.

[Civ IV] Steve Ogden: Like a donut, baby.

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: thanks for the questions everyone!

 

civivsteve([Civ IV] Steve Ogden) has left the room.

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: keep on civing...

 

[Civ IV] Mustafa Thamer: Question: SxG: What was the first game you guys ever played? What was your best memory of the early days of gaming?

Answer: The best game I played in the old days was Star Raiders - Atari 400

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Seven Cities of Gold, btw, is the game that made me want to be a game designer...

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: Player: Would you ever change the way the religion system works? Perhaps make individual religions more unique or create a downside to having multiple religions in each city?

Answer: It's tempting, but probably too controversial...

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: Tals: Is the PTBS server still in development, if so any ETA and can we have some tidbits on what we can expect specs etc?

Answer: We hope to get it out soon. System specs should be low since it does consume any graphics at all...

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: Question: Wilson_WWSC: Will civ 4 help me take over the world?

Answer: It's like training for taking over the world!

 

[Civ IV] Mustafa Thamer: Question: Scary: Mustafa what are your opinions on the Nintendo revolution and developing a civ game for it?

Answer: The Revolution sounds intriguing, especially the controller and online capabilities.  It will likely lack the raw horsepower of the other two but still have amazing game franchises to draw on.  All of the next tittles would be cool to work on.

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: ok, gotta go...

 

[Civ IV] Soren Johnson: thanks for the questions everyone!

 

[Xfire] Xfyre: Thanks Soren!

 

[Civ IV] Mustafa Thamer: Thanks guys - it was fun

 

[Xfire] Xfyre: And thanks for answering a couple extra :)

 

civivsoren([Civ IV] Soren Johnson) has left the room.

 

[Xfire] Xfyre: *clap clap clap*

 

civivmustafa([Civ IV] Mustafa Thamer) has left the room.