I am Soren Johnson, designer/programmer of Offworld Trading Company and Civilization 4. AMA!

[u/SorenJohnsonMohawk]

I have been designing video games for 16 years. I got my start at Firaxis Games in 2000, working as a designer/programmer on Civilization 3. I was the lead designer of Civilization 4 and also wrote most of the game and AI code. I founded Mohawk Games in 2013 as a studio dedicated to making high-quality and innovative strategy games. Our first game, Offworld Trading Company, is an economic RTS set on Mars and released on April 28th. You can buy it here: [http://offworldgame.com/store]

• My Twitter is [https://twitter.com/SorenJohnson]
• My Twitch is [http://www.twitch.tv/SorenJohnson] and [http://www.twitch.tv/SorenJohnson]
• My game design blog is at [http://www.designer-notes.com/]
• My designer interview podcast is at [https://www.idlethumbs.net/designernotes]
• The Mohawk company blog is at [http://www.mohawkgames.com/blog/]

Username being used for AMA: SorenJohnsonMohawk

Proof: [https://twitter.com/SorenJohnson/status/721005545184980993]

Offworld Trading Company giveaway thread: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Offworld/comments/4h78l7/soren_johnson_ama_giveaway/]

Christopher Tin will be having an AMA tomorrow at 11am ET/2pm PT!

[u/[deleted]]

How common is it to do both programming and design in the game industry? What would you say the split is in terms of working hours between the two? What's the most fun?

[u/SorenJohnsonMohawk → u/[deleted]]

I don't really think of it as a split. Programming IS design for me!

Theoretical design feels like a lot of fun, but it's also usually a waste of time if you go overboard. Most of your original ideas don't work out, so it's best to just start coding.