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Chat With Brian Reynolds; April 1st, 1999 [Jyle] Did you guys ever think that perhaps you might appeal to a larger audience if you made the game more user friendly? [austin3] What did u think about CIV:CTP? [SnowFire] First off, thanks again from me as well. A. Is Mike Ely still working for you at Firaxis? B. Will the website be modified anymore? I know that there's still a promise on the "confidential faction information" thing to check reguarly as more will be added... will more be added? [ISiddiqui] Mr. Reynolds, did you think of including something in SMAC to salute the forums members who have given many, many (more than I can remember!) hours to posting in the forums? :) [JasHawk] thanks brian for a great game [Brian_] Mike Ely is still w/ Firaxis, definitely! [Brian_] We may actually hire a full-time website guy. [Thue] if cloaked probe teams are disallowed for balancing reasons, why can you make sub probe skimships? [Guaire] What is Apolyton? [Brian_] Imran-- that was one reason we included people's names in the story... [DanQ] Just a reminder: one question at a time for Brian, please. [DanQ] I'll answer that with you privately, Guaire... [Brian_] MarkG can take the "What is Apolyton question"... :-) [SnowFire] Hehe. Sorry, I think we all rushed to get the first question Dan. [bloodpuppy] what's the deal with the GameSpot enhancement? Did they have some kind of special deal? [Brian_] Jyle-- that's a tough call; we try to make them... [MarkG] Apolyton = Apolyton Civilization Site civilization.gamestats.com [dxb] What inspired you to make a highly customizable game? [Brian_] as user-friendly as possible... but also as deep and rich as possible... [Brian_] Always a tradeoff. [Brian_] dxb-- I think we already talked about that earlier; check transcript later. [dxb] ok [micje] better deep than friendly! [ISiddiqui] Btw, my name is always available for the new factions ;) [Guynemer] Mr. Reynolds, I apologize if this was already addressed; I had a prior engagement. There has been a lot of talk about The Space Elevator, and its rather unpleasant side effect of ecodamage. Was this intended, or is there a fix planned? [micje] mine too [Fjorxc] Heh [Grond] there seems to be a bug in doing air drops with patch 3, you cant drop into your own bases(was this asked already) [JasHawk] brian: wil there ever be hooks in your games to allow players to program their own AI? ie like a cyborg thing. for things like program their own governors? [Brian_] bloodpuppy-- Gamespot sometimes promotes the game for free in exchange for exclusives. [Brian_] Guynemer--wasn't specifically intended; fix will depend on how we decide it affects gamebalance. [austin3] What did you mean by this in the smac fourms.Don't make the mistake of assuming that Firaxis won't do a "history of the world" style game! [Brian_] Grond--really, hadn't heard. Send a saved game to jmorris@firaxis.com [Guynemer] Merci. [Grond] ok [Jeje2] Brian: How much did you interfare with the grafical look? [Bangerboy] mornin folks [micje] There is also a longstanding discussion about 'copters, and whether they're too good. Will they be fixed, or do you think they are well balanced? [Brian_] JasHawk-- probably not, because it takes a lot of extra time to put in the hooks, and frankly if you can write better AI than I can you should probably be doing this for a living anyway! :-) [Fjorxc] Mr. Reynolds, is there a correlation between the names of the faction leaders and of their ideologies? [earthdeidre] brian > i once read that civilization was initially intended to be a real time game inspired by railroad tycoon.. any plans to build on this concept in the future now that its more do-able? [JasHawk] brian: :) [Brian_] Eeek! Questions coming too fast, starting to lose track... [MarkG] One at a time guys! [micje] TEMP QUESTION STOP [Brian_] Earthdeirdre (almost we pruned you...) actually the non-real-time version turned out to be a lot more fun in practice. [Brian_] Fjorxc-- no [JasHawk] brian: dont worry, reading irc scrollage at a million miles an hour is an acquired skill :) [DanQ] If you continously ask questions while Brian is trying to answer a previous one, you will be kicked (fair warning). [Thue] if cloaked probe teams are disallowed for balancing reasons, why can you make sub probe skimships? [Brian_] Thue-- a lot of the things people have thought of to do with units had never occurred to us... [ISiddiqui] So, did any of the suggestions on the forums make you change the game? [Brian_] Absolutely! [ISiddiqui] Cool :) [Jeje2] Brian: Could you or someone playing the PBEM, give a status report for us? (I am very interested in your PBEM game in moderated forum) [Brian_] I think the forums convinced me to put territorial boundaries in the game! [Brian_] It was a lot of work, but definitely worth it in the end! [earthdeidre] how come probe teams cant have amphibious pod [DogSurfer] Brians presence on Usenet was also excellent [Brian_] We were stunned by how much it helped the gameplay. In hindsight I can't believe we didn't put them in Civ2. [micje] I read originally there were missile and energy weapons. I think there are still traces left of this in the way the tech tree works. Have you considered using less weapons (i.e. no useless gatling laser)? [ISiddiqui] SLOW DOWN GUYS [Brian_] Next game I'm hoping to announce early and let the players help me design the game from the beginning. [Brian_] Jeje2--Good idea, I'll look into it. [micje] I'm there for you Brian :-) [ISiddiqui] Thanks for the answer! [Brian_] earthdeirdre-- Probe teams got some abilities taken away from them for balance reasons. [bloodpuppy] Will you ever have your name put on a game's title? (Brian Reynold's ______) [Brian_] micje--we had it in there (w/ attack bonuses/penalties depending on type of attack and armor), but it just didn't add to the game, and muddied things. [Brian_] bloodpuppy-- never say never! [SnowFire] Brian: now that you finished those quesions, here's some more. Have you read the Transcend IronMan threads in the SMAC forums? (if you have, I have follow-up questions) [Brian_] I haven't actually peeked in that one, though I've seen it. I only have time to read some of the threads. [SnowFire] I highly recommmend them to you all, btw. Okay. [Thue] Why doesn't the AI use probe skimships; they are very powerfull(allmost impossible to intercept)! [micje] Yes, but now there are tachyon lasers (12) and shard (13). I bet you wouldn't have both if you never thought of energy/missile weapons. [ISiddiqui] Btw, ever go into the Off-Topic forums for a laugh? Like BoS/CWAL wars or the IIIS? (from the proud President of the Brotherhood of Sid! :)) [Brian_] That's more because we wanted to have the weapons-technology-evolution make sense. [Brian_] Imran--Yes, I occasionally venture into the off-topic. [Guaire] Do you have any future plans to make a mid-evil time period game? [Brian_] Nothing specific. [SnowFire] Also, this is more a bug report than a question, but shouldn't Pact Brother Infiltrations have the production of cities labeled on the outside for ease of checking, like the datalinks/governorship infiltration? [micje] Turn Based Dungeonkeeper! [Brian_] SnowFire--that question is too complex for my brain right now :-) [SnowFire] Hehe. :) [Jeje2] Brian: How much did you interfare with the grafical look? [SnowFire] The little "Gatling Infantry" thing below cities is what I refer too. [Domk] what did u think of rrt2 ? [Brian_] Jeje2--I'm not quite sure I understand [SnowFire] Hey, it's Domk, fouler of the forms! Boot him, someone! [Brian_] Domk--seems pretty cool. Haven't had a chance to play. [ISiddiqui] LOL, Snowfire! [SnowFire] It is cool though I must admit. Sigh. [Guaire] what is rrt2? [Brian_] Railroad Tycoon 2 [earthdeidre] Brian .. have you heard of the jesuit philosopher pierre teillhard de chardin, who said humanity was constantly 'evolving' towards a state of transcedence, which would be accelerated through cybernetic technology? [Brian_] Actually haven't. [micje] Do you prefer it if we send bug reports to J. Morris, or post it in the forums. I don't want to spam people with e-mail. [JasHawk] *wave* night folx [ISiddiqui] Sounds interesting, earthdeidre [micje] bye JasHawk [Brian_] micje-- best place for general bug reports is the "troubleshooting" section in the forums. When saved games are necessary, send them to Jeff. [^zest^] hmm [Guynemer] How does it feel to have designed PCGamer's two best games of all time? :) [Brian_] Guynemer-- Only a few more to go and we'll have the perfect game :-) [^zest^] now you just gotta get alpha to leap up into the real time forum;) [micje] Were Eudaimonia and Thought Control inspired by "Brave New World" and "1984"? [ISiddiqui] My next question is about the forums. You and Jeff Moris and Chris Pine seem to be on the forums all the time! How do you find the time to help us? Thanks for the help, btw! [SnowFire] Ah yes... AI concerns. Can the AI perhaps build sea formers sooner rather than later? Because at the moment, the AI is far too easy to destroy on high water maps- they build seabases, but don't develop them. [Brian_] Eudaimonia was inspired by Aristotle. Thought Control was just made up. [^zest^] seabases are kind of lame [^zest^] until you get alot of techs [darkbird] i have noticed in civ2 multiplayer games there was a incentive for setting up lots of little bases and pumping out elephants will this stratgy work with smac if so will you be takeing steps to prevent it? [micje] I think SMAC could be turned into a perfect game. It's pretty close already. [earthdeidre] eudaimonia is a brave new world kind of society it seems to me [Brian_] Imran-- I work on my next game by day, do the forums/newsgroups for an hour or so each night, then play games. [SnowFire] Whoa, slow down folks. [Brian_] Snowfire-- yes, we didn't specifically work up AI for water maps, since the worldbuilder doesn't make them. Good point, though. [^zest^] its best just to expand on other islands before making water colonies.... [bloodpuppy] what games are you playing now? [Brian_] darkbird-- too early to tell. [^zest^] maybe you could make colonies in the water benefit more from water and less from land squares? [ISiddiqui] Good question, bloodpuppy! [Brian_] bloodpuppy-- some PBEM games of SMAC, and then checking out various competitor's games. My favorite game right... [Brian_] now by a competitor is Imperialism 2. [Guaire] where are the forums located? [ISiddiqui] http://www.alphacentauri.com [Brian_] www.alphacentauri.com [micje] alpha.owo.com [SnowFire] And oh yes- a quick defense of one of my other favorite games. BR, you said that Gettysburg actually made formations count; I'll remind everyone that Myth I (and to a lesser degree, Myth II) makes formations count as well. [earthdeidre] brian > have you heard about the emerging 'science' of memetics (treating cultural ideas like genes) [ISiddiqui] Picky, picky [^zest^] now the real question....is brian gonna play any games of alpha with any of us;) [micje] Myth II was a disappointment. [Brian_] Snowfire-- True. Did we release before or after them? [Jeje2] SLOW DOWN [micje] After. [Brian_] Zest- I do a few PBEM games with our beta testers, and sometimes we have a contest w/ winner to play me or whatever. [SnowFire] No matter, they're both excellent games. [DogSurfer] Too slow [ISiddiqui] When you left Microprose, did you think about joining other companies, or did you just want an independent gaming company [Brian_] Imran-- we definitely wanted to be independent. [Thue] The pacing of tech advances seems balanced in the start of the game, but in the end-game I allways end up with 1 tech/turn. Using the tech stagnation (or editing the relevant choise in alpha.txt) makes this a little better, but still the cost of techs should increase faster [micje] Is it really true that you and Sid aren't millionaires? [Brian_] Micje--no comment! [Eugene09] Brian, what's your next project gonna be? [darkbird] Smac is great game! one very minor diapointnent though the ending...I would have liked a cutseen like moo2 showing that you acoplished somthing rather then the credits [Brian_] Eugene-- not ready to announce quite yet, but you will love it. [DogSurfer] Rock & Roll Philosopher Programmer ,[earthdeidre] an update on pirates? :) [Eugene09] where can we find updates/news about it? [Brian_] Darkbird-- That's what the movie is for [SkyRaider] Well Brian, you can say what kind of game the next will be.... Strategy, or something else, can't you ??? [SnowFire] Oh yes. Sorry to put this on a negative note, but how come this chat was scheduled on Maundy Thursday? Was there no Believer on teh staff? ;-) [DanQ] Anyway, thanks everyone for a blast of time! I must be going. [SnowFire] (that's why I was late) [DanQ] TTYL, DAN [Brian_] SkyRaider--my next will be strategy, definitely. [SkyRaider] :D [akula] bye dan [Brian_] I actually need to be going too! :-( [Jeje2] OK, THX Brian [ISiddiqui] Later Dan [Brian_] Really enjoyed the chat, everyone, this was a great group. [MarkG] In that case.... [SnowFire] Thanks anyway, great chat! [Wan] Bye! [Domk] ever thought of doing RPG for oncr ? [Eugene09] thanks [Guynemer] Can't thank you enough, Brian. [MarkG] Thanks Brian! [akula] going moderated [Guaire] Thanks for your time Brian! [micje] Bye Brian! [Brian_] Thanks, MarkG for putting it together! [ISiddiqui] Thank you Brian [Domk] once [DanQ] Thanks again Brian! [SkyRaider] Cya Brian [Fjorxc] Thank you! [MarkG] Anytime Brian! [DanQ] Good night everyone! Thank you all for coming out! [MarkG] We hope we can arrange something like this in the future... [akula] Just so that we can say a final thankyou to Brian and goodluck for the future [MarkG] CU on the forums and this channel which will stay alive... [Brian_] Good night! [DanQ] Yes, feel free to chat on this channel any time of the day! [Brian_] Akula, I answered your chat question. [Eugene09] thanks and good luck to you Bryan [ISiddiqui] Later [Chevalier] Whoa! 5:38 am! [ISiddiqui] Have fun designing your next game! [Brian_] Ooh, and a special thanks... [Jeje2] It's 5.38 in Finland. Good night [Brian_] To all the Europeans who stayed up so late! [ISiddiqui] Yes to all of those Europeans! [Wan] thanks for v3! [Bongo] friday afternoon in New Zealand [Thue] well-placed comment jeje2 [bloodpuppy] thanks for the great game BR [earthdeidre] btw what IS the difference between the US and UK version [au] brian: i'm not "Akula" - if you were directing that to me. [Thue] copyprotection and language [SnowFire] We expect a 99% in PCG on the next one, Brian. Don't let us down! [Brian_] Earthdeirdre--it was copyprotection, but v 3.0 removes that. [ISiddiqui] Well UK version has copyright infringement syuff [ISiddiqui] Ah, beat me to it Brian! [ISiddiqui] He's gone [Thue] goodnigth [Wan] Goodnight! [Guynemer] Good evening, mes amis |
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