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Civ 5 lead designer forms studio, pounds At the Gates of Kickstarter
The lead designer of Civilization 5, Jon Shafer, is breaking out on his own with a new independent studio, Conifer Games, and its first game, At the Gates. At the Gates is an empire builder and Conifer Games is asking for $40,000 on Kickstarter to finish it; the team has "already made significant progress" in its development.This news means Shafer is no longer at Stardock, where in 2011 he signed on to help with Elemental: Fallen Enchantress and an unannounced project. Shafer founded Conifer Games a few months ago, according to his blog, and At the Gates already has a fully playable prototype."Our first project is At the Gates, a 4X turn-based strategy game which takes place during the fall of the Roman Empire," Shafer writes. "Players take the reigns of a fledgling barbarian tribe trying to forge a place for itself within the new order."If all goes as planned with the Kickstarter, At the Gates will launch in the first half of 2014.
Stardock hires Civ V designer Jon Shafer and fantasy writer Dave Stern
It was odd to hear about Jon Shafer leaving Firaxis a couple weeks back, what with him being an avid member of the Civ community and lead designer on the latest iteration, Civilization V -- a game our own Alexander Sliwinski called "a 'friendly' strategy game." During an interview with our sister site Big Download, Shafer once again stated he'd left Firaxis on good terms and will help Stardock on its newest title, Elemental: War of Magic, as well as an unannounced project he'll be overseeing. Stardock also announced it has hired acclaimed fantasy author Dave Stern to "oversee creative storytelling and lore implementation in all future projects." Stern, who has penned various Star Trek works and novelizations of the Tomb Raider and Blair Witch Project movies, will get right to work on enriching the world of Elemental: War of Magic, which Stardock CEO Brad Wardell admits was "one of the things we felt was weak." Specifically, Stern will "head up all further integration of the Elemental: War of Magic lore" in the game, which will see two upcoming expansions where "lore implementation will be essential."
Civilization 5 lead designer Jon Shafer leaves Firaxis
Lead designer for Civilization 5, Jon Shafer, has left Firaxis, his LinkedIn profile shows (via Flash of Steel). Shafer, who's been with the company for over five years and a longtime member of the franchise's devout modding scene, was the biggest proponent for uploading and sharing custom maps in this year's entry. Shafer revealed to the Flash of Steel blog that he was not let go from Firaxis -- he resigned on his own, apparently. We've reached out to Shafer and 2K Games for further comment. [Image credit: Firaxis]
Civilization 5 will convert Civ 4 maps automatically
Jon Shafer, a.k.a. "Trip," is a veteran Civilization modder and mapmaker -- he's made his name in the Civ community by posting his own mods and strategy guides on the forums for years. And oh yeah, he's also the lead designer of Civ V, which is probably one reason why user-created mods and maps will play such a big part in the official game. Players will be able to upload and share them with others directly in the game itself. The user-created catalog will even be populated with plenty of content right at launch, because Shafer tells Bitmob that "you can import Civ 4 maps into the world builder and convert them into Civ 5 maps, including all the units and cities and stuff on it -- the conversion process will just do that for you automatically." Presumably, the process will also translate the maps from squares to hexes, which means Shafer and everyone else's maps from the last Civ are just a conversion away from being playable in the new game. Which is good -- some Civ fans would have a tough time without their Middle Earth maps.
