by ERIK LEIJON

Brian Reynolds may not be an instantly recognizable name, but the games he’s worked on, such as Civilization II, Alpha Centauri and Rise of Nations, are among the most well-known PC titles ever. Reynolds was in Montreal on April 18 to promote Rise of Legends, the latest game to come from Big Huge Games, the company he started in 2000.

Reynolds first joined game developer Microprose in 1991, leaving his PhD program in Philosophy at Berkeley after one year. “I wrote to [game development companies] Origin, Sierra and Microprose,” the 38-year-old self-taught PC programmer says. “I skipped a month of my studies to write an electronic resume.”

The first game he worked on for Microprose was Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender, where he was the lead programmer, and for the next two years he would work on other graphic adventures—old-fashioned PC games that use only graphics and text, but no actual gameplay.

It was in 1993 where he got his big break: a chance to work with Civilization creator Sid Meier (perhaps the closest thing to a real gaming celebrity, since his name always prefixes his game titles) on Colonization. “It was my concept idea, and Sid taught me how to make it fun,” says Reynolds.

The collaboration would be so successful the Tennessee-native would eventually become lead designer on Civilization II, and Meier and Reynolds would create their own company, Firaxis, in 1997.

Vincis, Alims and Cuotls, oh my!

In 1998, after Alpha Centauri, a game that finally “got me to use my philosophy degree,” became his second million-seller (Civilization II was the first), Reynolds decided to pursue “his dream” in 2000 by founding Big Huge Games. “I was just dying to do an RTS [real-time strategy game],” he says. His dream eventually became the original Rise of Nations, the game on which Rise of Legends is based.

Rise of Nations, which came out in 2003, was a historical RTS that befitted the name Big Huge Games. Starting from scratch, players were given the task of building great empires bent on conquering the world. Gamers would experience 6,000 years of history in one sitting, from the mostly-agrarian ancient age to the nuke-wielding information age, and 18 different races could be chosen, all created to be as historically accurate as possible.

The game was predominantly war-based, but gamers would have to maximize trade routes, produce enough natural resources and food, and build universities to educate the masses and advance in age. While the turn-based Civilization II included many of these elements, Rise of Nations brought them into a real-time environment. This not only quickened the pace of the game but forced gamers to constantly think on their feet.

No Tolkien clone

The game covered a lot of ground, but Rise of Legends allowed for Reynolds to do what he couldn’t in Rise of Nations—flex his creative muscles and build societies from scratch. He wanted to create a fantasy world, but he and his team didn’t want to “clone Tolkien,” so he turned to some different sources which resulted in the creation of three new, fictional races. The first is the Western-based Vinci, which are inspired by the inventor of the same name, and his conceptual designs. “They have helicopters and funny-looking airships,” says Reynolds. “We gave them a steam-punked look with gears and factories.”

Their rivals are the Eastern-flavoured Alim. “We drew inspiration from the Arabian Nights, so there are genies, desert whirlwinds and tall, glass-spire cities.” It may look like an East vs. West game befitting the works of famed political scientist Samuel P. “The Clash of Civilizations” Huntington, but Reynolds says the “magic vs. technology” aspect of the game was not really intended to be overtly political.

The other race is an advanced group of aliens called the Cuotl, which borrow their design style and architecture from Mayan culture. Reynolds says he was influenced by Erich von Däniken’s controversial 1968 book Chariots of the Gods?, which theorized that aliens once visited Earth in ancient times and brought us culture, technology and religion.

From history to fantasy

Moving away from the historical-based world of Rise of Nations to a fictional one was a huge change for Reynolds and his team, who had to prevent themselves from getting too carried away. “It was definitely more fun and a lot more work,” he says. “With history, everything is given to you. We don’t have to teach people what a bow and arrow is.

“[For Rise of Legends] we plastered the walls with different concepts [for societies]. We had cavemen, dinosaurs, barbarian tribes, until we narrowed it down.”

Based on Rise of Nations but not exactly a sequel, Rise of Legends comes out for PC on May 9.

For more information visit www.bighugegames.com.