Soren Johnson
Encyclopedia
Soren Johnson is a video game designer and programmer
. He was employed by Firaxis Games
from 2000 to 2007, where he co-designed several of their most popular games. Prior to his work at Firaxis, he obtained a BA
in history
and a master's degree
in computer science
from Stanford University
. Johnson has also been employed at Electronic Arts
as part of an internship, where he worked on Knockout Kings
2000.
With Firaxis, Johnson helped in programming the popular video game Civilization III
, also writing the entire artificial intelligence
(AI). He was also the lead designer of Civilization IV
, once again writing all of the AI. On April 17, 2007, it was announced that Johnson had left Firaxis to rejoin Electronic Arts to work on Spore
.
He is a bi-monthly design columnist for Game Developer Magazine and also on the Advisory Board of the Game Developer's Conference. His current project is Strategy Station.
Game programmer
A game programmer is a software engineer, programmer, or computer scientist who primarily develops codebase for video games or related software, such as game development tools. Game programming has many specialized disciplines all of which fall under the umbrella term of "game programmer"...
. He was employed by Firaxis Games
Firaxis Games
Firaxis Games is a computer game developer. It was founded in 1996 by Sid Meier, Jeff Briggs, and Brian Reynolds upon leaving MicroProse. The company focuses on strategy games and is based in Sparks, Maryland in the United States....
from 2000 to 2007, where he co-designed several of their most popular games. Prior to his work at Firaxis, he obtained a BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
and a master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
from Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
. Johnson has also been employed at Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
as part of an internship, where he worked on Knockout Kings
Knockout Kings
Knockout Kings is a series of boxing games that were produced by EA Sports for the PlayStation, Nintendo 64, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Game Boy Color and GameCube yearly between 1998 and 2003....
2000.
With Firaxis, Johnson helped in programming the popular video game Civilization III
Civilization III
Sid Meier's Civilization III, commonly shortened to Civ III or Civ 3, is the third installment of the Sid Meier's Civilization turn-based strategy computer game series. It was preceded by Civilization II and followed by Civilization IV. The game offers very sophisticated gameplay in terms of both...
, also writing the entire artificial intelligence
Game artificial intelligence
Game artificial intelligence refers to techniques used in computer and video games to produce the illusion of intelligence in the behavior of non-player characters . The techniques used typically draw upon existing methods from the field of artificial intelligence...
(AI). He was also the lead designer of Civilization IV
Civilization IV
Sid Meier's Civilization IV is a turn-based strategy, 4X computer game released in 2005 and developed by lead designer Soren Johnson under the direction of Sid Meier and Meier's studio Firaxis Games. It is the fourth installment of the Civilization series...
, once again writing all of the AI. On April 17, 2007, it was announced that Johnson had left Firaxis to rejoin Electronic Arts to work on Spore
Spore (2008 video game)
Spore is a multi-genre single-player god game developed by Maxis and designed by Will Wright. The game was released for the Microsoft Windows and Macintosh operating systems in September 2008 as Spore...
.
He is a bi-monthly design columnist for Game Developer Magazine and also on the Advisory Board of the Game Developer's Conference. His current project is Strategy Station.
External links
- Soren Johnson's profile at MobyGamesMobyGames-Platforms not yet included:- Further reading :* Rusel DeMaria, Johnny L. Wilson, High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games, McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media; 2 edition , ISBN 0-07-223172-6...
- www.designer-notes.com Soren Johnson's game design blog
- Interview with Soren Johnson at CVGComputer and Video Games (magazine)Computer and Video Games is a video game magazine and website published in the United Kingdom.- History :...