Bullfrog's 1989 strategy game Populous was more than just a surprise hit -- it's seen by many to be the first "god game" ever sold, and it went on to influence the game industry as a whole by shedding light on demand for a whole new genre of game design.

At GDC 2011, veteran game designer Peter Molyneux took the stage to explain exactly how he wound up creating Populous, tracing the story back to a rather curious job shipping baked beans to the Middle East in the '80s.

It was a fascinating talk that was well worth watching. Thankfully, if you weren't there in person all those years ago, you can now watch Molyneux's entire hour-long Populous postmortem for free on the official GDC YouTube channel!

About the GDC Vault

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its new YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC, GDC Europe, and GDC Next already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.

Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Tech