Recent content by arstal

I've been playing this game for a bit, it's shaping up to be better then WOM, though AI still needs work. As for Jon, he's working primarily on another game, he's doing some work for FE but he's not in charge of the project.

thanks for that. I tried Master of Mana, it's just not the same. Didn't like it one bit. Lotsa good work in there, but it just is too much micro and too annoying a starting game.

Really, I think the three of them each cover their weaknesses quite well. Brad's a great AI coder, but gets stubborn sometimes, and sometimes his ideas lack a little. Kael brings the soul in spades and is a good team manager , but isn't good with AI Jon is good at filling in the other stuff...

If you listen to the EUIII forums, Paradox is messing up Paradox these days ^_^. Typical overblown remarks though.

A demo of the patched up Elemental is going to be done in the near future, was supposed to be after 1.1. It's on Stardock's priority list. 1.1 Elemental+ Brad's AI patch is a decent right game now , seriously- though it needs improvements in some areas, notably UI. as for Kael, his appeal...

Yeah, mandatory Steamworks, DLC, simplification of game, cutting of staff during development. I really don't think Sid would have signed off on any of that of his own volition. I wouldn't be shocked if Sid left Firaxis to be quite honest. Those all sound like suit-imposed policies. Also...

there's more hope for SD then Firaxis at this point to me. I would not be shocked if Sid "Respawns" somewhere else at some point right now. (then again, I'm of the camp that blames 2k for Civ V, though we'll never know 100%)

http://news.bigdownload.com/2011/01/04/exclusive-civilization-vs-lead-designer-hired-by-stardock/ Shafer is now working for Stardock. Interesting. I wonder if more Firaxis talent will leave. (supposedly there's 2 more hires as well)

I just don't think Sid will be able to take the rights this time. 2k probably got that locked up pretty hard. I think if they didn't, Sid would have been gone already- I really don't think Firaxis likes working under 2k all that much. I think Brad learned his lesson about remakes with...

I expect if Sid left, 2k would keep the rights to the Civ name. Also, he'd have to go with a lesser publisher such as Stardock or Paradox (most likely scenarios). BTW , Brad has been talking about another big-name pickup, I'm speculating that there's at least a remote possibility it's Jon...

I think the DLC/expansions/moneyhatting of Civ 5 is already set in stone. It's possible things may get canned if it bombs, but I'm sure the money is already budgeted, and the game did sell. How many of Civ 5's sales are first time buyers due to Steam, who don't know what it's supposed to be...

This makes me wonder. a) I believe the direction of Civ V was largely forced on Firaxis by 2K b) Brad over at Stardock has been claiming a mystery hire announced soon, who is a modding specialist. c) I've heard about friction between 2k and Firaxis. I wonder if he's going to pull a Kael?

He'll have the resources. SD should have about 40% of its budget left for Elemental. (SD tends to keep half of its budget for post-release) Brad is one of the best AI programmers, which will cover the biggest hole in FFH to boot. This is a very good move.

http://www.stardock.com/about/newsitem.asp?id=2056 It is Kael. Congrats.

There's a rumor going around on the SD forums (will be proven true or false today most lkely) that Kael has been hired by Stardock to work on Elemental. That would be interesting. (I really doubt SD hired Brian Reynolds or Sid Meier)