They didn't have it ready in time to ship but they released it around six months later and I was so into Civ III and. Instead, he just dived into the editor as soon as it was released. There was no closed alpha to sign up for back then. This didn't come about because Shafer had any existing connection with the studio. With Civ III there was a map editor, which was developed during that period, and I think I might have been the first person to make a map using that editor outside of Firaxis.' 'I'd always wanted to make games from when I was very young, so I made a lot of little games on the side, but once I started playing these more sophisticated strategy games I decided I wanted to start making mods for them rather than just building my own things. At that point in time, like a lot of people here, I was just excited to play the games and be involved in some way. Obviously all of those numbers have gotten a lot bigger since then (laughs). 'Back then, I was a big fan of Civilization II and III, but also EU II and Hearts of Iron I. That story begins in Denver, around 2003. I began by asking how he ended up sitting at the Paradox Convention, in Stockholm, the city that has now been his home for two weeks: 'It's quite a long story, actually.'

We spoke about how the second half of every Civ sucks, the part the series played in his life, the perils of boredom in strategy design, how much we love maps, and what the future holds for both Shafer and Paradox. Now working at Paradox on an unannounced project and on his own historical strategy game At The Gates in his spare time, he says he's learning from the likes of Spelunky along with the more obvious strategic influences. Jon Shafer was 21 years old when he became lead designer of Civilization V.

Civilization 5,hearts of iron 4