Jon and Dirk are joined by Brian Reynolds, designer of ‘Civilization 2’, ‘Alpha Centauri’, ‘Rise of Nations’ and more. They discuss Brian’s career as a designer, his approach, what makes ‘Alpha Centauri’ stand up so many years later, and Brian’s future projects.
Definitely one of my favorite episodes. Brian has been in this business as long as just about anyone, and his career spans an incredible number of genres and interesting projects. Given the unique place Alpha Centauri continues to hold in gaming history I really enjoyed the opportunity to grill Brian a bit on the choices that went into it. I hope you guys enjoy this one as much as me!
– Jon
Jon Shafer on Design 
Very interesting talk! It was a little disappointing to discover Brian didn’t tip his hand by indicating what his next project might be, but I guess it isn’t that surprising either. It sounds like if we’re going to see Brian do any more games with a philosophical bent someone from Irrational is going to have to offer him a job. Actually, since Ken Levine has been talking lately about wanting to get into “story bricks” Brian Reynolds might be the perfect guy for this. Hopefully Ken decides to listen to this episode!
We asked if Brian would be willing to share some details about what he’s up to now but he, alas, declined. I can totally understand though. If not for the Kickstarter I probably wouldn’t have announced AtG for a while yet.
– Jon
Great Interview.
Brings back memories of the early days playing Alpha Centauri. Loved the game….
http://www.slitherine.com/games/PandoraPC
At least a spiritual successor to AC.