
I wrote a tool in Python so you could take images from a Google search, like a map of Europe, and convert them into a Civ map. "I wasn’t a professional engineer and nobody knew what to do with me. "My first project was Civilization 4, but honestly I wasn’t doing much," says Shafer. I never did buy Civ 2 but in the end I think I gave something back to the series.

Eventually they agreed, and Shafer began his video game career in 2005. After Civilization 3 released, Shafer was studying programming and history at Colorado State and began bugging Firaxis for an internship.

Shafer poured himself into Civilization, becoming a modder and joining online communities to run civilizations as real-world democracies.
