Interview with KJW (by HiG)

[danisthirty]

Not sure how many of us here follow HiG on Facebook and/ or Instagram, but for those who don't I wanted to share this link to an interview with KJW that HiG have been sharing (one question/ answer per day) via their social media channels.

We're only up to day 4, so there's still 1 question to go, but I've been following it quite keenly as I like the style of the questions, the insight they provide into the world of Carcassonne's creator and the cartoons too!

I hope you like it.

Linkback: https://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=5189.0

[Meepledrone]

The same page in English is available too:

https://www.hans-im-glueck.de/en/news/We-asked-klaus-juergen-wrede.html

Have fun!

[Dkmvs]

Thanks for sharing, I didn’t know since I don’t have Social Media. Nice to see this side of KJW!

[danisthirty]

The same page in English is available too:

Thanks. I didn't even realise that my link wasn't in English as Chrome auto-translates everything in the background!

[Meepledrone]

Ha ha ha! No problem!

I know you are a hard-core player so I thought you were just citing the primary source of all truth. 

[totec55]

These are great. He seems very down to Earth and relatable.

[Paloi Sciurala]

It is useless if no Carcassonne rule clarification is provided.

[corinthiens13]

It is useless if no Carcassonne rule clarification is provided.

It may be of no interest to you (and probably to a lot of other players!), this doesn't mean it is useless, some are interested in the creator and not only to the game itself

[danisthirty]

It is useless if no Carcassonne rule clarification is provided.

Thanks. I'll be sure to feed back to KJW that his interview, which had nothing to do with rule clarifications, fell short of the expected standard due to lack of rule clarifications.

Geez. Tough crowd.

[PurpleMeeple]

Having - suddenly, just recently - felt curious enough to look at the actual city of Carcassonne in Google Maps, I have actually been wondering about KJW's inspiration for the game.  I don't know how many of you have done this for whatever reason but the city itself does actually consist of a lot of squares (and even has what could be considered halflings in places round the edge ;-) ).

I see he talks about inspiration a little in this interview, and of course Google Maps was not around in 2001 but I have to wonder if perhaps a map of Carcassonne helped inspire KJW to make it a square tile based game?   

https://www.google.com/maps/place/11000+Carcassonne,+France/@43.2133092,2.3487382,884m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x12ae2c390116bd8b:0xe28fdf3b77a114c7!8m2!3d43.2132151!4d2.3517703

Edit: I also appreciate this being shared here as I don't do FB or Instagram (or Twitter etc.) 

[corinthiens13]

Having - suddenly, just recently - felt curious enough to look at the actual city of Carcassonne in Google Maps, I have actually been wondering about KJW's inspiration for the game.  I don't know how many of you have done this for whatever reason but the city itself does actually consist of a lot of squares (and even has what could be considered halflings in places round the edge ;-) ).

I see he talks about inspiration a little in this interview, and of course Google Maps was not around in 2001 but I have to wonder if perhaps a map of Carcassonne helped inspire KJW to make it a square tile based game?   

https://www.google.com/maps/place/11000+Carcassonne,+France/@43.2133092,2.3487382,884m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x12ae2c390116bd8b:0xe28fdf3b77a114c7!8m2!3d43.2132151!4d2.3517703

Edit: I also appreciate this being shared here as I don't do FB or Instagram (or Twitter etc.) 

This may have been an inspiration. But note that the link you provided points to the "modern" city of Carcassonne.

The medieval (and fortified) city of Carcassonne is in the link below:
https://goo.gl/maps/SpBrz36VcjS1ZW5WA

Note that:

• The castle inside the fortified city looks just like the castle district in exp. 6 city of Carcassonne
• The "Basilique Saint-Nazaire" looks just like one of exp. 1 cathedrals and like the cathedral district in exp. 6
• The "théâtre Jean Deschamps" is also present in exp. 6 city of Carcassonne, though it is not a specific district
• The walls shape and structure of exp. 6 city of Carcassonne is a correct copy of the real medieval city
• Even the market district is placed at the correct location, next to the castle (you can see market tents on google map)
• And the roofs colors are matching the game tiles too (blue and red roofs) (thanks Purplemeeple for pointing this out)
• The city gate looks the same too
• I don't know if there's a link between the blacksmith district in the game and the real city?

[PurpleMeeple]

All good points corinthiens13, I did not know to look for the old city too but makes sense now you have mentioned it.

So old city does not look like made of tiles but can clearly see the 'blue roofed' towers and the other bits you point out. 

[corinthiens13]

All good points corinthiens13, I did not know to look for the old city too but makes sense now you have mentioned it.

So old city does not look like made of tiles but can clearly see the 'blue roofed' towers and the other bits you point out. 

Good point, I didn't pay attention to the roofs. I updated the similarities list in my previous post 

[Bumsakalaka]

Having - suddenly, just recently - felt curious enough to look at the actual city of Carcassonne in Google Maps, I have actually been wondering about KJW's inspiration for the game.  I don't know how many of you have done this for whatever reason but the city itself does actually consist of a lot of squares (and even has what could be considered halflings in places round the edge ;-) ).

I see he talks about inspiration a little in this interview, and of course Google Maps was not around in 2001 but I have to wonder if perhaps a map of Carcassonne helped inspire KJW to make it a square tile based game?   

https://www.google.com/maps/place/11000+Carcassonne,+France/@43.2133092,2.3487382,884m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x12ae2c390116bd8b:0xe28fdf3b77a114c7!8m2!3d43.2132151!4d2.3517703

Edit: I also appreciate this being shared here as I don't do FB or Instagram (or Twitter etc.) 

This may have been an inspiration. But note that the link you provided points to the "modern" city of Carcassonne.

The medieval (and fortified) city of Carcassonne is in the link below:
https://goo.gl/maps/SpBrz36VcjS1ZW5WA

Note that:

• The castle inside the fortified city looks just like the castle district in exp. 6 city of Carcassonne
• The "Basilique Saint-Nazaire" looks just like one of exp. 1 cathedrals and like the cathedral district in exp. 6
• The "théâtre Jean Deschamps" is also present in exp. 6 city of Carcassonne, though it is not a specific district
• The walls shape and structure of exp. 6 city of Carcassonne is a correct copy of the real medieval city
• Even the market district is placed at the correct location, next to the castle (you can see market tents on google map)
• And the roofs colors are matching the game tiles too (blue and red roofs) (thanks Purplemeeple for pointing this out)
• The city gate looks the same too
• I don't know if there's a link between the blacksmith district in the game and the real city?

I was there. Very beautiful city. Our trip was Andorra, French Pyreneyas, Carcassonne, Narbonne.

Expansion 6 city was made by real "old" Carcassonne.

Quotes are for reason that it was ruin rebuild in 19th century, if I remember correct value.

This is very good visible in Cathedral which is neoghotic but extremely rare with full of light inside, which is not usual for gothic churches.

[Decar]

The great thing about Google Maps is I can see at least 3 different shades of green grass; just like my own garden!