Congrats, Kael!

[White Elk]

It is true! Stardock has announced the hiring of Derek "Kael" Paxton as Senior Producer. Congrats Kael!


From Stardock.com

Stardock Taps Fall from Heaven Creator to Lead Game Development Efforts

PLYMOUTH, MICHIGAN - October 12, 2010 - Stardock Entertainment, developer and publisher of award-winning PC games, announced today that Derek Paxton has joined the studio as senior producer and will oversee Stardock's ongoing development and expansions of the recently released fantasy strategy game, Elemental: War of Magic (www.elementalgame.com).

Paxton is the creator and lead designer of the Fall from Heaven series of fantasy strategy games. Prior to joining Stardock, he was an external consultant for Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword and contributed to several of Firaxis's games including the recent Civilization V.

"This is the opportunity to marry my professional project manager career with my passion for game design," said Paxton. "I'm especially excited to work with the talented people at Stardock who have always been focused on creating great PC strategy games. I'm currently immersing myself in the world of Elemental, and I think everyone will be excited to see what is coming from Stardock Entertainment."

Stardock CEO, Brad Wardell, will serve as the executive producer and lead AI developer on Elemental.

Wardell stated, "Stardock has experienced continued growth from its various gaming and enterprise products as well as our digital distribution platform, Impulse. As a result of our loyal fan base and successes, we have been fortunate to be able to attract some of the top talent from across the industry. Derek brings to Stardock a unique blend of strategy game design knowledge and a great deal of project management experience from his non-gaming career."

As with all Stardock releases, the company is dedicated to providing post-release support for Elemental: War of Magic with free updates to enhance game play and ensure that the game evolves over time to its potential.


About Elemental: War of Magic

Elemental: War of Magic is a PC strategy game set in a fantasy world that puts the player in command of a growing Kingdom or Empire bent on expanding their influence across the world. Players build cities, raise armies, research technologies, go on quests, recruit heroes, negotiate treaties, learn spells and much more in this epic strategy game. Visit www.elementalgame.com for the complete Elemental: War of Magic experience.

About Impulse

Impulse is a digital distribution platform that allows users to purchase and download the latest PC games, software applications, utilities, and much more. Its partners include Electronic Arts, Activision, Ubisoft, Paradox Interactive, Bethesda, Atari, and many more. Visit www.impulsedriven.com for more information.

About Stardock

Stardock is one of the world's leading developers and publishers of PC games and desktop software. Its PC games include Sins of a Solar Empire as well as the Galactic Civilizations series. Its desktop software includes Object Desktop, WindowBlinds, and a host of other programs for customizing the Windows experience. Its software can be found on most new Dell PCs as well as HP and other PC makers. Learn more about Stardock by visiting www.stardock.com.

 

[Kyriakos]

Great

 

[DirtyFinger]

chance that elemental will eventually become playable: 40%
chance that elemental will eventually become a good game: 7%
chance that fall from heaven will now come to civ5: 0%

leave it to brad wardell to ruin the 4x genre.

congratulations to kael for the job, though. the stardock teaparty could use someone that finds his rear without flight controller and approach radar.

 

[White Elk]

I see the opposite Dirty. I see Elementals success without Kael as being in the ninety percentile. I see Kael joining the team as icing on the cake. And I see Stardock as champion for those of us who seek 4X games of old school depth. I'd say the same for Firaxis if not for the vampristic monkey on their back. Stardock is fortunate to be a private company unbeholden to share holders. Stardock has an increased freedom to create niche games. And they have the ability, desire, and track record to continue perfecting their games long past release. I see Stardock as saving the 4X genre as other companies streamline and simplify their games.


But nevermind all that.

I think it very cool that Kael has meet a dream and is getting paid to do something he enjoys. I am happy for his oppurtunity, and I admire his efforts which afforded him this chance. I think he is fortunate to work for one of the good companies, and I look forward to enjoying his contributions to what I am sure will be a game I enjoy for many years.

 

[ShaqFu]

Stardock Hires Fall From Heaven Creator After 'Challenging' Elemental Launch

Congrats on the new title of Senior Producer; we look forward to your work in the big leagues.

 

[SuperJay]

Wow, that's awesome. Congratulations, Kael!

(And whoah, Stardock is located in Plymouth?? That's like 15 mins away from me. *feverishly updates resume*)

 

[Supr49er]

Congratulations

 

[Adam7Eight]

Congrats, Derek.

I just got a little more excited for Elemental.

 

[SerialK]

Yay, Congratulations! (even if i doubt that elemental can become entertaining to me even with Kael as a dev)

 

[Neomega]

Not sure why this is in Civ V...

...but yeah. I wonder how much input Kael will have. I liked his design philosophies for the most part. My favorite part was his hope was to design FFH2 where the player would be able to invent their own little quests while playing.

He also always took criticism very gracefully, and had a knack for picking out what needed to be heard.

 

[The_J]

...aaaand main page!
Congratulations, Kael .

Thread can imho stay here...let's see.

 

[r_rolo1]

It is perfectly fitting to talk about Kael in here ... hey, he wrote the modding guide for this game

Well, I seriously hope he really knows what he is doing, since Elemental is not exactly the best possible game to work at this moment, if you know what I mean ...

And I surely hope this does not affect the standalone FfH :/

Anyway, I surely hope he is sucessful in this quite chaleging new job

 

[Neomega]

It's front page, but I think it is best posted here.

http://gamasutra.com/view/news/3093...reator_After_Challenging_Elemental_Launch.php

 

[Ajidica]

Congrats Kael. I might consider that game now considering I liked the last stardock game I got. (Sins of a Solar Empire if anyone cares.)

 

[Drakarska]

Kudo's Sir. I have no doubt that Elemental will be better for you joining.

 

[SerialK]

standalone FfH

The project has been canceled sadly (it's somewhere in a sticky in the FFH board)

 

[Neomega]

It is perfectly fitting to talk about Kael in here ...

As a strategic business move, it is most interesting.
Needless to say, I doubt Kael will be interested in making a FFH mod for civ V.
Others may try to pick it up.
I mean Kael was a huge, *free* asset to Firaxis and civ IV.

 

[Thormodr]

Glad to hear that. Congrats to Kael.

I like Elemental and I'm excited that it'll be even better with him on board now. It's had

it's share of problems but the company is honest and their communication has been top

notch.

I wonder how this impacts the idea for FFH3 though...

EDIT: Well, no FFH3 makes me very sad.

 

[r_rolo1]

@Neomega

Yup, i already said once that firaxis should had made a agreement with Kael and sell FfH II as a standalone instead of CivCol

Well, Kael had already said he would not do a FfH for civ V, so i was not with great hopes

Just to end, it is another civ modder that goes to swim with the big fishes . Let's see if he is not eaten by some shark

 

[JLoZeppeli]

Congrats! I hope Afforess get the same attention by Firaxis, so we will have a quality assurance on our most loved games!