She also talks about the state of the gaming industry

Jan 5, 2015 09:45 GMT  ·  By

Lena Brenk, the lead producer working on Civilization: Beyond Earth, might be busy working on future content for the turn-based strategy title, but the game maker has found some time to reveal that Douglas Adams, with Last Chance to See, is one of the major inspirations for her work and to talk about the future of the gaming industry.

In an interview with the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, the developer states that “The way he watches people with such an ability to distance himself, critically, but he still stays close enough to love humanity as well. That critical distance without devolving into misanthropy is such a remarkable skill to possess. That balancing act captures some of the essence of being a producer – you have to love your team, and you have to be able to consider the development process objectively, too.”

Lena Brenk started work at Nintendo as a localization tester and has progressed through the rank in order to become an associate producer on the Civilization series before starting with Beyond Earth.

She also says that she appreciates the number of options the Sid Meier-created series offers.

The game creator also believes that the gaming industry has been progressing well in the past few years, offering more variety than ever and allowing traditional PC players to get some of their favorite experiences on other devices.

In addition, she offers some advice for those who want to get a job with a big gaming company.

Civilization: Beyond Earth might get an expansion this year

Civilization: Beyond Earth was the big launch for Firaxis in 2014, a turn-based strategy title designed to introduce a range of new features, including a tech web and more decisions, that show how the traditional formula of the franchise can work on an entirely new planet.

Since the title was launched, the studio has only delivered one major patch for it.

Fans are speculating that Firaxis is gathering feedback in order to launch a major expansion later in 2015, presumably designed to make sure that some of the core mechanics are tweaked, while also adding some other features.

Civilization: Beyond Earth was seen by some players as a chance to bring the classic Alpha Centauri back to life for modern gamers, but the title sticks much closer than expected to the traditional formula of the series.

Civilization: Beyond Earth Diary Images (9 Images)

Civilization in space
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