Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

[Anonymous No.4549351]

Can anyone tell me anything about this game? I have done nothing but play high action nonstop shlock for years but every single quote I hear from this just strikes me as brilliant remark representing a certain kind of ideology.

I don't think I've ever been more interested in a game yet turned off on the gameplay. I am absolutely fascinated, to say the least.

[Anonymous No.4549389]

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri is, at its core, a reskin of Civilization 2 IN SPACE! As such, it has most of the core mechanics, except they're called differently, such as Food being called Nutrient and Commerce being called Energy.

It's also generally a bigger and better game than Civ2, mechanics wise, as it lets you do things like devising your own units in the workshop from the tech you acquire, and that every faction has a different philosophy, which reflects both on their flavor and their playstyle and available tools. A game as CEO Morgan will likely vary in approach to a game played as Sister Miriam.

It's one of the best /vr/ 4X (eXplore, eXterminate, eXpand, eXploit) games and one of the best space 4Xes that are there (along games like Master of Orion).

It should be easy enough to load a game up on some really low difficulty level and just play around with it, making colonies and not caring too much. Civilization(-style) games on Easy difficulty can be played as a carefree roleplaying/storytelling simulator where you don't care about meticulous plans and excessive micromanagement but use your game as an addictive little way to tell an interesting story; as you climb up to harder difficulties, the game definitely starts favoring hard math and exploitation of certain game mechanics.

Game is really inspired by nerdy works of sci-fi, such as Dune (where the all-consuming alien forces come from), Star Trek, the works.

It has an expansion pack called Alien Crossfire, which gives a few cool things, a few new factions (much less popular than the original factions) including playable aliens (who are OP as fuck). You can play Alien Crossfire while disabling certain things you don't want (most likely the aliens and fucking Cha Dawn).

I'd recommend to just give it a spin yourself. The most user-friendly factions (no massive pluses or minuses) are Lal's Peacekeepers, Deirdre's Gaians and Santiago's Spartans.

[Anonymous No.4549396]

Did you played alien crossfire expansion?

[Anonymous No.4549397]

>>4549351
What do you want to know about it? Have you ever played Civ 2? It's like that, but in space.

[Anonymous No.4549409]

Also - the game has a couple of different victory conditions. You can beat the game by conquering everyone and becoming sole ruler of the Planet, but you can also get voted into the position by other factions or achieve an ultimate feat of science that will propel humanity into a revolutionary new age. You can have a game where you just wanna break some heads or necks or you can have an entirely peaceful builder existence, making do with just some border guard and careful diplomacy.

The game is very unique because it's quite story- and lore-oriented, but you aren't linearly forcefed the story, as it wouldn't work well in a game of this genre. Rather, every tech discovery, every Secret Project you complete and even a few events that can happen (such as your units meeting their first Mind Worms) is adorned with a special quote from one of the characters. Flavorful bits of dialogue are injected into the game's diplomacy, as characters react differently to you depending on, for instance, whether you rule your faction in a way approved by them. For instance, Chairman Yang, a collectivist totalitarian, will be a very good friend to anyone who rules their subject with an iron fist in a Police State, but will shun Democracy.

[Anonymous No.4549417]

>>4549397
>>4549389
I've never played an RTS much less 4X. But from every reference of it, namely the Morgan Industries lines has me interested.

[Anonymous No.4549426]

>>4549409
Well shit. Buying it on GOG right now then. It's childish to just be spurned by the genre itself. Thank you anon.

[Anonymous No.4549460]

>>4549417
Yeah, the backstory is that the Earth has been left ravaged by pollution, rampant exploitation, overpopulation and warmongering, so influential people from Earth were sent to space to give humans another chance somewhere else.

Morgan's idea is that greed is good and that they should keep on exploiting resources they find. Morganites get a ton of dosh, but they're also decadent and rampantly exploit the Planet, which pisses the alien lifeforms residing within off.

Morgan can be tricky to play, because he has a steep population cap (the number you grow with Nutrient; the more pop, the more productive your colonies are) on his cities until a crucial piece of infrastructure shows up. However, late-game Morganites are an utter powerhouse, capable of getting tech and/or money at an extremely rapid pace. You can use their massive economic advantage to get better technological units and steamroll the opposition with superior tech, or just have your nation prosper and become a builder's paradise on the Planet.

If you insist on playing SMAC, one tip I can give you is that you generally want to make a ton of Colony Pods early game and keep up a steady pace of land grab and expansion. You also want quite a few Formers to upgrade your land. Land is power, so grab a fuckton of it before your neighbors do.

Morgan might want to put his initial colonies really tighlty together due to the low pop cap that I mentioned; it's okay for colonies to share good tiles, so don't worry about overlap, doubly so when you are Morgan.

[Anonymous No.4549475]

>>4549460
Thank you for explaining more about Morgan. Also if you have the time, personally what's your favorite leader?

[Anonymous No.4549490]

>>4549417
4x games are easier than RTS. just give it a try

[Anonymous No.4549539]

>>4549475
I'm the kinda guy who just picks Random and has a whole different story every single time, esp. since every leader is fun to play and can bring something funny or unique - just look at pic related.

That said, I think I really like Gaians; they aren't too restrictive and don't lend themselves to a particular playstyle, and it's really fun to leverage their +Planet bonuses and run around the map capturing Mind Worms to serve your bidding.

All in all, I think that if I were to live on The Planet, I'd also rather hang out with Gaians, they seem to be the most pleasant faction to just be a part of, and ultimately probably the best for humanity - although, ofc, the crux of SMAC is that every faction has some downsides to it.
>Lal's Peacekeepers are the most "modern Earth" like faction in the game, but it's implied that bringing Lal's virtues to the Planet will just cause it to end up like Earth at some point;
>Morganites are rich as fuck, but as Morgan himself said, there's no point to leaving anything for the planet, so within a few generations the Planet will be fucked;
>Yang is a collectivist and living in his empire is definitely a nightmare, even if his way of survival is good
>Santiago's spiel smells like eugenics and that can be quite iffy even if it helps humans survive; depends on how keen you are on "might makes right"
>Miriam is insane, but there was a pasta floating around which shows a perspective that says she is the most righteous of the leaders
>Gaians are the most keen to exploit alien horrors residing within the planet, most quotes about using Mind Worms come from Deirdre
>Zakharovians can definitely be interpreted as ruthless mad scientists

But yeah, that's a long-winded question; I generally never pick the same faction twice between games. I also don't play much with the factions from the expansion pack, also because I don't care for them too much fluff-wise or gameplay-wise.

[Anonymous No.4549560]

>>4549539
On top of this post, here's some cool things you can do in this game with each faction!
>Lal
They don't have too crazy bonuses either way, but they're the single easiest faction to get a Diplomatic Victory with due to the Peacekeepers' getting double votes in elections.
>Zakharov
Scientists are, well, really good at science. Probably the fastest possible way to get a Transcendence victory: http://www.dos486.com/alpha/index.html here's a small vignette where a guy achieves it in a relatively short game (but also through extremely anal micromanagement).
>Yang
If you run the Social Doctrine combo of Police State / Planned, you completely murder your economy, but get a massive boost to shitting out Colony Pods and growing your colonies. Yang can do this without efficiency penalties. There's a reason Yang AI can often get scary, as its exceptionally good at land grab.
>Santiago
You start with a 2-move unit. If Unity Pods are turned on (which they are by default), you will be the fastest to get a ton of freebies from them. They're very well-rounded warmongers otherwise, fun for breaking necks and they're also really "safe" to play.
>Deirdre
Deirdre's +Planet rating means you can easily.subdue the aliens to work for you. You can conquer many AIs in the window of opportunity where Mind Worms and Spore Launchers are really scary, esp. since they move very fast on fungi.
>Morgan
Morgan can actually out-tech Zakharov in a few cases because of how much money he gets and how much of it he's allowed to spend on science. Early game, aim for Recycling Centers and high Economy rating. Your center tiles will produce 7-8 Energy very early - all the more reason to build colonies tightly.
>Miriam
Probe, Probe, Probe. You can steal everyone else's tech with ease and subvert colonies without having to siege them, and enemies will find doing the same to you really difficult. Really, really good at conquest.

[Anonymous No.4549563]

[Anonymous No.4549595]

SMAC is one of the best strategy games ever made. It's not the most balanced thing out there by any means, but it takes Civilisation's core gameplay and has a hell of a lot of fun with it. Civ's nukes are a bit of a wet fart? Well, SMAC has superweapons that wipe cities off the map and leave craters in the landscape.
Not every feature hit its mark, - unit customisation is as annoying as it is in every game - but the sheer variety is very impressive.

That variety extends to the writing too. The factions aren't just different colours for the same playing piece gallivanting about a generic universe like in almost every other sci-fi strategy games, a lot of effort was put into giving them distinct personalities, and making Alpha Centauri an interesting place. There's no linear narrative, but you get a distinct sense of what life on Planet and this future is like just by playing the game. The designers really knew their philosophy and their sci-fi, and it shows, they're able to have fun one moment and be serious the next without ever breaking tone.
https://youtu.be/Hou-Iwv1GvM?t=241
https://youtu.be/vlWyV00YLf8?t=102

[Anonymous No.4549609]

>>4549539
Miriam is absolutely the least insane of all the leaders.

She has a bad reputation because the kind of people who are attracted to SMAC tend to love science (and thus overlook Zakharov's particular band of insanity) and hate organised religion. She also tends to be a very annoying AI opponent, which doesn't help matters.

[Anonymous No.4549610]

>>4549563
Nothing wrong with recycling tanks desu.

[Anonymous No.4551731]

>>4549397
>>4549389
> Civ 2 in space
Guys, really... That does AC no justice at all.
Civ 2 is completely boring in comparison.
What made Alpha Centauri great is that you can really customize how your faction works, in terms of development mechanics, to create very different gameplay experiences. Crucial in this are the "social engineering" mechanic, the terraforming and the relationship with the alien lifeforms.
This means you can create very different kinds of future civilizations. You can go for an isolated tech advance overdeveloped "ivory tower" civilization, an industrial empire based around supply crawlers stripping the land to provide for your capital city, a green economy where earth tree forests gradually mold together with the native fungus forests, an anti green economy where you brutalize planet with boreholes and then just harvest the angry alien swarms for energy beads, etc...
That there is so much opportunity to actually break the game is different novel ways only adds to the fun.
In comparison civ 2 is completely bland. It looks bland in comparison. It lacks the atmosphere completely. But since OP is asking about gameplay mechanics, let's focus on that. So why compare it to Civ 2?

[Anonymous No.4552231]

>>4549351

redpilled,

every tech in the game exists irl and is being used on us

[Anonymous No.4552310]

>you will never read the full unabridged text of Chairman Yang's 'Essays On Mind And Matter'
>ywn hear Zhakarov's 'Address To The Faculty'

[Anonymous No.4552338]

>>4549351

It's just the best grand strategy game ever

[Anonymous No.4552596]

>>4551731
>So why compare it to Civ 2?
Because anyone who had played Civ2 will have a much easier time figuring out SMAC. Nutrient/Mineral/Energy are Food/Shields/Arrows, there are specialists, Supply Crawlers are basically caravans, but even more broken/exploitative; Probe Units are Diplomats/Spies; you can even "pop-boom" the same way as in Civ2 by running Democracy and a high Luxury (or, in SMAC, "Psych" slider), Secret Projects are World Wonders.

Hell, you can even play certain things in SMAC very similarly to Civ2, e.g. both games reward Colony Pod spam.

So yes, as I said, "at its core", SMAC is a reskin of Civ2, but I also added that it's a "bigger and better" game than Civ2 and named a few mechanics that make it so.

[Anonymous No.4552632]

>>4549539

Miriam herself is cast from the mold of the classical Christian intellectual; she's intelligent, open-minded, and embraces science with open arms. It's her followers who are the problem, not her.

[Anonymous No.4552717]

>>4549609
That was pretty much my look on the matter. Back when SMAC was big, the types of people playing computer games would naturally gravitate towards Zarkov, which would also wind up positioning them against Miriam, which is pretty much his antithesis.

I think it's only as the audience gets older and more mellow did they really give all the factions a fair shake. I won't say Miriam is perfect by any stretch, but her position is completely valid in a world where governments have run rampant with their ideologies.

[Anonymous No.4552718]

>>4552310
I'm more interested in "Looking God in the Eye" or the ever popular, "We Must Dissent."

[Anonymous No.4553882]

If you like the Secret Project movies many of them came from a really great film project called "Baraka" which I can highly recommend.

Also Foreman Domai was the best leader.

[Anonymous No.4554092]

>>4553882
>liking Alien Crossfire leaders

[Anonymous No.4554429]

>>4549539
>Miriam is insane,
This is from a jackass that doesn't know what he's talking about. Miriam is the most sane of them all as the others are concerned with merging with the planet, destroying it for personal gain, creating the perfect hive society, or even cloning their deadfu. All she's concerned with is staying close to God and being careful with the tech.
>>4552717
She's perfect as far as the original leaders go. The only one that would be merciful and not ruthlessly torture or experiment on her people. Lal is only ruined by his dead wife issue.

[Anonymous No.4554601]

>>4554429
>Miriam is the most sane of them all
This *really* doesn't translate into player behavior as you could be playing the most honorable player in the world and her personality is still erratic at best. The fact that she favors religious fundamentalism as a civic can also sound quite unpalatable.

Sure, she might be quite personable in the lore, but she's one of the most despised AI neighbors for a reason.

Really, anon, the entire point of SMAC is that all factions are faulty.

[Anonymous No.4554621]

The leaders are funny cultural stereotypes that are kind of true.
>Lal
Overeducated internationalist Indian guy
>Zakharov
Russian scientist
>Yang
Chinese insect person
>Santiago
Militant badass Latina chick
>Deirdre
Left wing, environmentalist Scot who probably doesn't shave her pits
>Morgan
Nigerian scammer
>Miriam
Crazy American evangelical Christian

[Anonymous No.4554670]

trash game. Played it once as a kid and it was boring af.

[Anonymous No.4555320]

>>4554601
This doesn't make any sense. Her believing in the fundamentals of Christianity doesn't have a say on her sanity. Just like Zak being a hyper atheist doesn't affect his. It's the little shit that paints the picture. As far as her ai, that's irrelevant as they don't follow their supposed beliefs. Once again however, Miriam is the only one not at fault in this case.

[Anonymous No.4555323]

>>4554621
This is the same false shit as before, mong.

[Anonymous No.4555628]

>>4549351

i always end up just planting forest everywhere and not bothering with other terraforming options

am i doing it wrong?

[Anonymous No.4555962]

>>4555628
No, it's plenty viable. Generally prevents eco-damage (which can be a hassle to deal with unless you go for that specific "Ruin The Planet" strat where you explicitly farm Mind Worms for credits) and Forests are the #1 best tile improvement at least until you remove the caps on Nutrient/Energy/Minerals, and then later when you get some tech. But a Green Planet Plan that you propose is really, really good and efficient and flourishes fantastically once you get your hands on Tree Farms.

[Anonymous No.4555983]

>>4555628
>>4555962
Of course, it would not hurt to put some former time into an occasional Mine+Road (= 4 Minerals once you "unlock" it), especially in towns that or just for Supply Crawler cheese purposes.

But forests are really universal overall, esp. if you play on a shitty start with little green, Forests are the easiest to get off the ground.

Really, if you're just chilling and don't feel like micro too much and focus on shorter games rather than maxing out scores with some calculated Farm+Condenser abominations, Forests -> Tree Farm are your best bet.