HomeLAN - There were a number of gameplay changes that were announced mid-way through development. What sort of changes were made and why?

William Fisher - Most of the changes were done so you'd get clear feedback about what you were trying to do. For example, we had a number of areas where you had tons of micro-adjustments that you could make, but it wasn't clear when or where they were having any effect. So we simplified those systems to make your decisions obvious. Now, when you want to change something in your empire, you have a clear list of things you can try to do, knowing that they'll have reasonable and visible effects.

Other changes clarified the user interface and made the existing systems easier to use. The Planet Screen is the big one here. Originally, we displayed lots of detailed information with too little "higher-level intelligence." Now, we give you a better summary on the main screen and let you tunnel down to the details. That's how it was supposed to work originally, but it ended up going the wrong direction for a little while. Another example is the Leaders Screen, which is far simpler and yet more interesting.

Finally, we had to cut some features that simply weren't fun or were so complicated that nobody could explain them effectively. When you're simulating an entire galaxy, it's easy to get carried away and try to do too much. Sometimes, the result is a game system that's tedious or confusing. Fortunately, both we and Infogrames recognized the flaws and went the extra mile to make sure they were all fixed.