Spearheaded by Stardock CEO Brad Wardell and his team, the last expansion to Galactic Civilizations 2, Twilight of the Arnor, has raised the bar for every turn-based game to come after it at the same time as providing a shining example of what it takes to make a great expansion. Being a massive fan of Stardock, in particular Galactic Civilizations 2, it was the high point of my SG writing career to have the opportunity to pick Brad Wardell’s brain about this new expansion.
Check out what Brad had to say about Twilight of the Arnor after the jump!
I myself was in the beta for Twilight since the very beginning and I marveled at just how big this expansion was shaping up to be. Even with my “insider” perspective, there were a number of questions I was dying to ask. The following are a mix of questions from both myself and those submitted by the SG community.
PMPB: Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor was originally scheduled to be released in November of ‘07. Was the decision to delay the release an easy one?
Brad: “The decision was relatively easy actually. We put the matter to a vote with the players. They could have it in November with the promised feature set or they could have it early 2008 with an expanded set of features. They chose the latter.”
PMPB: The beta for Twilight has been up and running since the fall of last year. Since then it has proven to be one of the most in-depth, community friendly and brutally honest beta’s in recent memory. How important is it for a developer like Stardock to run an extended beta and are the journal and forum updates, which are not only funny but incredibly honest, a matter of policy, or simply how Stardock’s team does things?
Brad: “It’s really just how we do things. We’re totally transparent. For us, our players are our partners. We are working together with the players as if they were part of our team.”
PMPB: Have any major additions or changes to Twilight come about as a direct result of beta tester input?
Brad: “There’s been tons of minor features added to the game due to beta tester feedback. For instance, we decided to give each race its own graphics for planetary improvements. We also went back and rewrote a lot of the technology descriptions based on player feedback. But the biggest area has been in the area of computer AI. The players and us work together on coming up with good strategies for the computer players. I really enjoy that part of the development.”
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