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Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri is a 4X video game, considered a spiritual sequel to the Civilization series. Set in a science fiction depiction of the 22nd century, the game begins as seven competing ideological factions land on the planet Chiron ("Planet") in the Alpha Centauri star system. As the game progresses, Planet's growing sentience becomes a formidable obstacle to the human colonists.

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
Developer(s)Firaxis Games[a]
Publisher(s)Electronic Arts (Win)
Aspyr Media (Mac)
Loki Software (Linux)
Designer(s)Brian Reynolds
Bing Gordon
Sid Meier
Douglas Kaufman
Timothy Train
Composer(s)Jeff Briggs
David Evans
SeriesCivilization
Platform(s)Windows, Mac OS, Linux
Release
February 9, 1999
  • Alpha Centauri
    Microsoft Windows
    Mac OS
    • NA: February 3, 2000[3]
    • EU: March 10, 2000
    Linux
    • WW: August 2000
    Alien Crossfire
    Windows
    Mac OS
    • EU: March 10, 2000
    • NA: May 16, 2000[3]
    Linux
    • WW: August 2000
Genre(s)4X, Turn-based strategy
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Sid Meier, designer of Civilization, and Brian Reynolds, designer of Civilization II, developed Alpha Centauri after they left MicroProse to join with Jeff Briggs in creating a new video game developer: Firaxis Games. Electronic Arts released both Alpha Centauri and its expansion, Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire, in 1999. The following year, Aspyr Media ported both titles to Classic Mac OS while Loki Software ported them to Linux.

Alpha Centauri features improvements on Civilization II's game engine, including simultaneous multiplay, social engineering, climate, customizable units, alien native life, additional diplomatic and spy options, additional ways to win, and greater mod-ability. Alien Crossfire introduces five new human and two non-human factions, as well as additional technologies, facilities, secret projects, native life, unit abilities, and a victory condition.

The game received wide critical acclaim, being compared favorably to Civilization II. Critics praised its science fiction storyline (comparing the plot to works by Stanley Kubrick, Frank Herbert, Arthur C. Clarke, and Isaac Asimov), the in-game writing, the voice acting, the user-created custom units, and the depth of the technology tree. Alpha Centauri also won several awards for best game of the year and best strategy game of the year.

Synopsis edit

Setting edit

Space-race victories in the Civilization series conclude with a journey to Alpha Centauri.[6] Beginning with that premise the Alpha Centauri narrative starts in the 22nd century, after the United Nations sends "Unity", a colonization mission, to Alpha Centauri's planet Chiron ("Planet").[7] Unbeknownst to humans, advanced extraterrestrials ("Progenitors") had been conducting experiments in vast distributed nervous systems, culminating in a planetary biosphere-sized presentient nervous system ("Manifold") on Chiron, leaving behind monoliths and artifacts on Planet to guide and examine the system's growth.[8] Immediately prior to the start of the game, a reactor malfunction on the Unity spacecraft wakes the crew and colonists early and irreparably severs communications with Earth.[9] After the captain is assassinated, the most powerful leaders on board build ideological factions with dedicated followers, conflicting agendas for the future of mankind, and "desperately serious" commitments.[9][10] As the ship breaks up, seven escape pods, each containing a faction, are scattered across Planet.[11]

In the Alien Crossfire expansion pack, players learn that alien experiments led to disastrous consequences at Tau Ceti, creating a hundred-million-year evolutionary cycle that ended with the eradication of most complex animal life in several neighboring inhabited star systems.[12] After the disaster (referred to by Progenitors as "Tau Ceti Flowering"), the Progenitors split into two factions: Manifold Caretakers, opposed to further experimentation and dedicated to preventing another Flowering; and Manifold Usurpers, favoring further experimentation and intending to induce a controlled Flowering in Alpha Centauri's Planet. In Alien Crossfire, these factions compete along with the human factions for control over the destiny of Planet.

Characters and factions edit

The game focuses on the leaders of seven factions, chosen by the player from the 14 possible leaders in Alpha Centauri and Alien Crossfire, and Planet (voiced by Alena Kanka).[13] The characters are developed from the faction leaders' portraits, the spoken monologues accompanying scientific discoveries and the "photographs in the corner of a commlink – home towns, first steps, first loves, family, graduation, spacewalk."[14] The leaders in Alpha Centauri comprise: Lady Deirdre Skye, a Scottish activist (voiced by Carolyn Dahl), of Gaia's Stepdaughters; Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang, a Chinese Legalist official (voiced by Lu Yu), of the Human Hive; Academician Prokhor Zakharov, a Russian academic (voiced by Yuri Nesteroff) of the University of Planet; CEO Nwabudike Morgan, a Namibian businessman (voiced by Regi Davis), of Morgan Industries; Colonel Corazon Santiago, an American militiawoman (voiced by Wanda Niño) of the Spartan Federation; Sister Miriam Godwinson, an American minister and social psychologist (voiced by Gretchen Weigel), of the Lord's Believers; and Commissioner Pravin Lal, an Indian surgeon and diplomat (voiced by Hesh Gordon), of the Peacekeeping Forces.[13][15]

The player controls one of the leaders and competes against the others to colonize and conquer Planet.[10] The Datalinks (voiced by Robert Levy and Katherine Ferguson) are minor characters who provide information to the player.[13][16] Each faction excels at one or two important aspects of the game and follows a distinct philosophical belief, such as technological utopianism, Conclave Christianity, "free-market" capitalism, militarist survivalism, Chinese Legalism, U.N. Charter humanitarianism, or Environmentalist Gaia philosophy.[17][18] The game takes place on Planet, with its "rolling red ochre plains" and "bands of lonely terraformed green".[19]

The seven additional faction leaders in Alien Crossfire are Prime Function Aki Zeta-Five, a Norwegian research assistant-turned-cyborg (voiced by Allie Rivenbark), of The Cybernetic Consciousness; Captain Ulrik Svensgaard, an American fisherman and naval officer (voiced by James Liebman), of The Nautilus Pirates; Foreman Domai, an Australian labor leader (voiced by Frederick Serafin), of The Free Drones; Datajack Sinder Roze, a Trinidadian hacker (voiced by Christine Melton), of The Data Angels; Prophet Cha Dawn, a human born on Planet (voiced by Stacy Spenser) of The Cult of Planet; Guardian Lular H'minee, a Progenitor leader (voiced by Jeff Gordon), of The Manifold Caretakers; and Conqueror Judaa Maar, a Progenitor leader (voiced by Jeff Gordon), of The Manifold Usurpers.[17][20][21]

Plot edit

The story unfolds via the introduction video, explanations of new technologies, videos obtained for completing secret projects, interludes, and cut-scenes.[6] The native life consists primarily of simple wormlike alien parasites and a type of red fungus that spreads rapidly via spores.[17] The fungus is difficult to traverse, provides invisibility for the enemy, provides few resources, and spawns "mindworms" that attack population centres and military units by neurally parasitising them.[22] Mindworms can eventually be captured and bred in captivity and used as terroristic bioweapons,[23] and the player eventually discovers that the fungus and mindworms can think collectively.[23]

A voice intrudes into the player's dreams and soon waking moments, threatening more attacks if the industrial pollution and terraforming by the colonists is not reversed.[22][24] The player discovers that Planet is a dormant semi-sentient hive organism that will soon experience a metamorphosis which will destroy all human life.[25][26] To counter this threat, the player or a computer faction builds "The Voice of Alpha Centauri" secret project, which artificially links Planet's distributed nervous system into the human Datalinks, delaying Planet's metamorphosis into full self-awareness but incidentally increasing its ultimate intelligence substantially by giving it access to all of humanity's accumulated knowledge.[27][28][29] Finally, the player or a computer faction embraces the "Ascent to Transcendence" in which humans too join their brains with the hive organism in its metamorphosis to godhood.[30] Thus, Alpha Centauri closes "with a swell of hope and wonder in place of the expected triumphalism", reassuring "that the events of the game weren't the entirety of mankind's future, but just another step."[19]

Gameplay edit

 
Alpha Centauri and Alien Crossfire feature similar gameplay. Diplomatic actions are handled in pop-up windows, while combat and unit movement are handled on the isometric field shown in the background. Information such as unit health and status changes are displayed on the black field across the bottom.

Alpha Centauri, a turn-based strategy game with a hard science fiction setting,[31] is played from an isometric perspective. Many game features from Civilization II are present, but renamed or slightly tweaked: players establish bases (Civilization II's cities), build facilities (buildings) and secret projects (Wonders of the World), explore territory, research technology, and conquer other factions (civilizations).[6][11][32][33] In addition to conquering all non-allied factions, players may also win by obtaining votes from three quarters of the total population (similar to Civilization IV's Diplomatic victory), "cornering the Global Energy Market", completing the Ascent to Transcendence secret project, or for alien factions, constructing six Subspace Generators.[6][34][35][36]

The main map (the upper two thirds of the screen) is divided into squares, on which players can establish bases, move units and engage in combat. Through terraforming, players may modify the effects of the individual map squares on movement, combat and resources. Resources are used to feed the population, construct units and facilities, and supply energy. Players can allocate energy between research into new technology and energy reserves. Unlike Civilization II, new technology grants access to additional unit components rather than pre-designed units, allowing players to design and re-design units as their factions' priorities shift.[14][37] Energy reserves allow the player to upgrade units, maintain facilities, and attempt to win by the Global Energy Market scenario. Bases are military strongpoints and objectives that are vital for all winning strategies. They produce military units, house the population, collect energy, and build secret projects and Subspace Generators. Facilities and secret projects improve the performance of individual bases and of the entire faction.

In addition to terraforming, optimizing individual base performance and building secret projects, players may also benefit their factions through social engineering, probe teams, and diplomacy. Social engineering modifies the ideologically based bonuses and penalties forced by the player's choice of faction.[11][14][17][18][38] Probe teams can sabotage and steal information, units, technology, and energy from enemy bases, while diplomacy lets the player create coalitions with other factions. It also allows the trade or transfer of units, bases, technology and energy. The Planetary Council, similar to the United Nations Security Council, takes Planet-wide actions and determines population victories.[39]

In addition to futuristic technological advances and secret projects, the game includes alien life, structures and machines.[6] "Xenofungus" and "sea fungus" provide movement, combat, and resource penalties, as well as concealment for "mind worms" and "spore launchers".[25] Immobile "fungal towers" spawn native life. Native life, including the seaborne "Isles of the Deep" and "Sealurks" and airborne "Locusts of Chiron", use psionic combat, an alternate form of combat which ignores weapons and armor.[25] Monoliths repair units and provide resources; artifacts yield new technology and hasten secret projects; landmarks provide resource bonuses; and random events add danger and opportunity. Excessive development leads to terraforming-destroying fungus blooms and new native life.

Alpha Centauri provides a single player mode and supports customization and multiplayer. Players may customize the game by choosing options at the beginning of the game, using the built-in scenario and map editors, and modifying Alpha Centauri's game files.[40] In addition to a choice of seven (or 14 in Alien Crossfire) factions, pre-game options include scenario game, customized random map, difficulty level, and game rules that include victory conditions, research control, and initial map knowledge. The scenario and map editors allow players to create customized scenarios and maps.[41] The game's basic rules, diplomatic dialog, and the factions' starting abilities are in text files, which "the designers have done their best to make it reasonably easy to modify..., even for non-programmers."[42][43] Alpha Centauri supports play by email ("PBEM") and TCP/IP mode featuring simultaneous movement, and introduces direct player-to-player negotiation, allowing the unconstrained trade of technology, energy, maps, and other elements.[44]

Development edit

Inspirations edit

In 1996, MicroProse released the lauded Civilization II, designed by Brian Reynolds.[45][46] Spectrum Holobyte who owned MicroProse at the time, opted to consolidate their business under the MicroProse name, moving the company from Maryland to California by the time the game shipped,[47] and laying off several MicroProse employees. Disagreements between the new management and its employees prompted Reynolds, Jeff Briggs, and Sid Meier (designer of the original Civilization) to leave MicroProse and found Firaxis.[45][47][48] Although unable to use the same intellectual property as Civilization II, the new company felt that players wanted "a new sweeping epic of a turn-based game". Having just completed a game of human history up to the present, they wanted a fresh topic and chose science fiction.[49]

With no previous experience in science fiction games, the developers believed future history was a fitting first foray.[50] For the elements of exploring and terraforming an alien world, they chose a plausible near future situation of a human mission to colonize the solar system's nearest neighbour and human factions.[51] Reynolds researched science fiction for the game's writing.[47] His inspiration included "classic works of science fiction", including Frank Herbert's The Jesus Incident and Hellstrom's Hive, A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge, and The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle for alien races; Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars, Slant by Greg Bear, and Stephen R. Donaldson's The Real Story for future technology and science; and Dune by Herbert and Bear's Anvil of Stars for negative interactions between humans.[52][53]

Alpha Centauri set out to capture the whole sweep of humanity's future, including technology, futuristic warfare, social and economic development, the future of the human condition, spirituality, and philosophy.[49] Reynolds also said that "getting philosophy into the game" was one of the attractions of the game.[47] Believing good science fiction thrives on constraint, the developers began with near-future technologies. As they proceeded into the future, they tried to present a coherent, logical, and detailed picture of future developments in physics, biology, information technology, economics, society, government, and philosophy.[50] Alien ecologies and mysterious intelligences were incorporated into Alpha Centauri as external "natural forces" intended to serve as flywheels for the backstory and a catalyst for many player intelligences.[51] Chris Pine, creator of the in-game map of Planet, strove to make Planet look like a real planet, which resulted in evidence of tectonic action. Another concern was that Planet matched the story, which resulted in the fungus being connected across continents, as it is supposed to be a gigantic neural network.[54]

Terraforming is a natural outgrowth of colonizing an alien world.[55] The first playable prototype was just a map generator that tested climate changes during the game.[47] This required the designers to create a world builder program and climatic model far more powerful than anything they had done before. Temperature, wind, and rainfall patterns were modeled in ways that allow players to make changes: for example, creating a ridge-line and then watching the effects. In addition to raising terrain, the player can also divert rivers, dig huge boreholes into the planet's mantle, and melt ice caps.[55]

In addition to scientific advances, the designers speculated on the future development of human society.[56] The designers allow the player to decide on a whole series of value choices and choose a "ruthless", "moderate", or "idealistic" stance. Reynolds said the designers don't promote a single "right" answer, instead giving each value choice positive and negative consequences. This design was intended to force the player to "think" and make the game "addictive".[56] He also commented that Alpha Centauri's fictional nature allowed them to draw their characters "a lot more sharply and distinctly than the natural blurring and greyness of history".[47] Chiron, the name of the planet, is the name of the only non-barbaric centaur in Greek mythology and an important loregiver and teacher for humanity. The name also pays homage to James P. Hogan's 1982 space opera novel Voyage from Yesteryear, in which a human colony is artificially planted by an automatic probe on a planet later named by colonists as Chiron. In the game, Chiron has two moons, named after the centaurs Nessus and Pholus, with the combined tidal force of Earth's Moon, and is the second planet out from Alpha Centauri A, the innermost planet being the Mercury-like planet named after the centaur Eurytion. Alpha Centauri B is also dubbed Hercules, a reference to him killing several centaurs in mythology, and the second star preventing the formation of larger planets. The arrival on Chiron is referred to as "Planetfall", which is a term used in many science fiction novels, including Robert A. Heinlein's Future History series, and Infocom's celebrated comic interactive fiction adventure Planetfall. Vernor Vinge's concept of technological singularity is the origin of the Transcendence concept. The game's cutscenes use montages of live-action video, CGI, or both; most of the former is from the 1992 experimental documentary Baraka.

Alpha Centauri edit

In July 1996, Firaxis began work on Alpha Centauri,[57][58] with Reynolds heading the project.[47] Meier and Reynolds wrote playable prototype code and Jason Coleman wrote the first lines of the development libraries.[47][58][59] Because the development of Gettysburg took up most of Firaxis' time, the designers spent the first year prototyping the basic ideas.[51] By late 1996, the developers were playing games on the prototype, and by the middle of the next year, they were working on a multiplayer engine.[51] Although Firaxis intended to include multiplayer support in its games, an important goal was to create games with depth and longevity in single-player mode because they believed that the majority of players spend most of their time playing this way. Reynolds felt that smart computer opponents are an integral part of a classic computer game, and considered it a challenge to make them so.[60] Reynolds' previous games omitted internet support because he believed that complex turn-based games with many player options and opportunities for player input are difficult to facilitate online.[61]

Reynolds said that the most important principle of game design is for the designer to play the game as it is developed;[47] Reynolds claimed that this was how a good artificial intelligence (AI) was built. To this end, he would track the decisions he made and why he made them as he played the game.[60] The designer also watched what the computer players did, noting "dumb" actions and trying to discover why the computer made them.[60][62] Reynolds then taught the computer his reasoning process so the AI could find the right choice when presented several attractive possibilities.[60][62] He said the AI for diplomatic personalities was the best he had done up to that point.[47]

Doug Kaufman, a co-designer of Civilization II, was invited to join development as a game balancer.[47][51] Reynolds cited the Alpha Centauri's balance for the greater sense of urgency and the more pressing pacing than in his earlier game, Sid Meier's Colonization.[47] According to producer Timothy Train, in designing the strengths and weaknesses of the factions, the goal was to suggest, without requiring, certain strategies and give the player interesting and fun things to do without unbalancing the game.[38] He didn't want a faction to be dependent on its strength or a faction's power to be dominant over the rest.[18] Train felt that fun meant the factions always have something fun to do with their attributes.[63]

Around the summer of 1997, the staff began research on the scientific realities involved in interstellar travel.[51] In late 1997, Bing Gordon—then Chief Creative Officer of Electronic Arts—joined the team, and was responsible for the Planetary Council, extensive diplomacy, and landmarks.[47][64] A few months before the 1998 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), the team incorporated the Explore/Discover/Build/Conquer marketing campaign into the game.[64] The game was announced in May 1998 at E3.

In the latter half of 1998, the team produced a polished and integrated interface, wrote the game manual and foreign language translations, painted the faction leader portraits and terrain, built the 3D vehicles and vehicle parts, and created the music.[65] Michael Ely directed the Secret Project movies and cast the faction leaders.[66] 25 volunteers participated in Firaxis' first public beta test.[67] The beta testers suggested the Diplomatic and Economic victories and the Random Events.[67]

There were a lot of "firsts" for our team in the making of Alpha Centauri. We had never done a public beta test before Alpha Centauri, and this was also the first time we released a demo before the game was out. Since we'd not done one before, we didn't know exactly what to expect when we released it, but it turned out to fit right in with Firaxis' iterative design method.

— Brian Reynolds on development aspects Firaxis introduced during Alpha Centauri[68]

The design team started with a very simple playable game.[68] They strengthened the "fun" aspects and fixed or removed the unenjoyable ones, a process Sid Meier called "surrounding the fun".[68] After the revision, they played it again, repeating the cycle of revision and play.[68] Playing the game repeatedly and in-depth was a rule at Firaxis.[63] In the single-player mode, the team tried extreme strategies to find any sure-fire paths to victory and to see how often a particular computer faction ends up at the bottom.[63] The goal was a product of unprecedented depth, scope, longevity, and addictiveness, where the player is always challenged by the game to come up with new strategies with no all-powerful factions or unstoppable tactics.[63] According to Reynolds, the process has been around since Sid Meier's early days at Microprose.[68] At Firaxis, as iterations continue, they expand the group giving feedback, bringing in outside gamers with fresh perspectives.[69] Alpha Centauri was the first Firaxis game with public beta testers.[69]

Finally, Brian Reynolds discussed the use of the demo in the development process.[69] Originally a marketing tool released prior to the game, they started getting feedback.[70] They were able to incorporate many suggestions into the retail version.[70] According to Brian Reynolds, they made improvement in the game's interface, added a couple of new features and fixed a few glitches.[70] They also improved some rules, fine-tuned the game balance and improved the AI.[70] Finally, he adds that they continued to add patches to enhance the game after the game was released.[70] In the months leading to the release of Alpha Centauri, multimedia producer Michael Ely wrote the 35 weekly episodes of Journey to Centauri detailing the splintering of the U.N. mission to Alpha Centauri.[71]

Alien Crossfire edit

A month after Alpha Centauri's February 1999 release, the Firaxis team began work on the expansion pack, Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire.[57][72][73] Alien Crossfire features seven new factions (two that are non-human), new technologies, new facilities, new secret projects, new alien life forms, new unit special abilities, new victory conditions (including the new "Progenitor Victory") and several additional concepts and strategies.[57] The development team included Train as producer and designer, Chris Pine as programmer, Jerome Atherholt and Greg Foertsch as artists, and Doug Kaufman as co-designer and game balancer.[47][74]

The team considered several ideas, including a return to a post-apocalyptic earth and the conquest of another planet in the Alpha Centauri system, before deciding to keep the new title on Planet. The premise allowed them to mix and match old and new characters and delve into the mysteries of the monoliths and alien artifacts.[73] The backstory evolved quickly, and the main conflict centered on the return of the original alien inhabitants.[74] The idea of humans inadvertently caught up in an off-world civil war focused the story.[74]

Train wanted to improve the "build" aspects, feeling that the god-game genre had always been heavily slanted towards the "Conquer" end of the spectrum.[74] He wanted to provide "builders" with the tools to construct an empire in the face of heated competition.[74] The internet community provided "invaluable" feedback.[74] The first "call for features" was posted around April 1999 and produced the Fletchette Defense System, Algorithmic Enhancement, and The Nethack Terminus.[74]

The team had several goals: factions should not be "locked-in" to certain strategies; players should have interesting things to do without unbalancing the game, and the factions must be fun to play.[75] The team believed the "coolness" of the Progenitor aliens would determine the success or failure of Alien Crossfire.[76] They strove to make them feel significantly different to play, but still compatible with the existing game mechanics.[76] The developers eventually provided the aliens with Battle Ogres, a Planetary survey, non-blind research, and other powers to produce "a nasty and potent race that would take the combined might of humanity to bring them down".[76] Chris Pine modified the AI to account for the additions.[47] The team also used artwork, sound effects, music, and diplomatic text to set the aliens apart.[76] Other than the aliens, the Pirates proved to be the toughest faction to balance because their ocean start gave them huge advantages.[77]

Upon completion, the team felt that Alien Crossfire was somewhere between an expansion and a full-blown sequel.[77] In the months leading to the release of Alien Crossfire, multimedia producer Michael Ely wrote the 9 episodes of Centauri: Arrival, introducing the Alien Crossfire factions.[71] The game initially had a single production run. Electronic Arts bundled Alpha Centauri and Alien Crossfire in the Alpha Centauri Planetary Pack in 2000 and included both games in The Laptop Collection in 2003.[78][79] In 2000, both Alpha Centauri and Alien Crossfire were ported to Classic Mac OS by Aspyr Media and to Linux by Loki Software.[6][80][81]

Reception edit

Alpha Centauri received wide critical acclaim upon its release,[82][83] with reviewers voicing respect for the game's pedigree, especially that of Reynolds and Meier. The video game review aggregator websites GameRankings and Metacritic, which collect data from numerous review websites, listed scores of 92% and 89%, respectively.[84][85] The game was favorably compared to Reynold's previous title, Civilization II,[6][86][87][88] and Rawn Shah of IT World Canada praised the expansion for a "believable" plot.[6] However, despite its critical reception, it sold the fewest copies of all the games in the Civilization series.[22] It sold more than 100,000 copies in its first two months of release. This was followed by 50,000 copies in April, May and June.[10] In the United States, Alpha Centauri was the tenth-best-selling computer game of 1999's first half.[89] Its sales in that country alone reached 224,939 copies by the end of 1999,[90] and rose to 281,115 units by September 2000.[91]

Critical reaction edit

The game showed well at the 1998 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3).[96] Walter Morbeck of GameSpot said that Alpha Centauri was "more than hi-tech physics and new ways to blow each other up", and that the game would feature realistic aliens.[97] Terry Coleman of Computer Gaming World predicted that Alpha Centauri would be "another huge hit".[98] OGR awarded it "Most Promising Strategy Game" and one of the top 25 games of E3 '98.[99][100] In a vote of 27 journalists from 22 gaming magazine, Alpha Centauri won "Best Turn Based Strategy" of E3 Show Award.[101] Aaron John Loeb, the Awards Committee Chairman, said "for those that understand the intricacies, the wonder, the glory of turn based 'culture building,' this is the game worth skipping class for."[102]

Alpha Centauri's science fiction storyline received high praise; IGN considered the game an exception to PC sci-fi cliches,[86] and GamePro compared the plot to the works of writers Stanley Kubrick and Isaac Asimov.[87] J.C. Herz of The New York Times suggested that the game was a marriage of SimCity and Frank Herbert's Dune.[103] GamePro's Dan Morris said "As the single-player campaign builds to its final showdown, the ramifications of the final theoretical discoveries elevate Alpha Centauri from great strategy game to science-fiction epic."[87] Game Revolution said, "The well crafted story, admirable science-fiction world, fully realized scenario, and quality core gameplay are sure to please."[93] Edge praised the uniqueness of expression saying it was "the same kind of old-fashioned, consensual storytelling that once drew universes out of ASCII."[14] The in-game writing and faction leaders were also well-received for their believability, especially the voice acting.[11][86][88][92] GameSpot reviewer Denny Atkin called the factions and their abilities Alpha Centauri's "most impressive aspect".[104] Greg Tito of The Escapist said, "the genius of the game is how it flawlessly blends its great writing with strategy elements."[22]

Alpha Centauri's turn-based gameplay, including the technology trees and factional warfare, was commonly compared to Civilization and Civilization II.[94] The Adrenaline Vault's Pete Hines said, "While Alpha Centauri is the evolutionary off-spring to [Civilization] and [Civilization II], it is not [Civilization II] in space. Although the comparison is inevitable because of the lineage, it is still short-sighted."[92] Edge in 2006 praised "Alpha Centauri's greater sophistications as a strategy game."[14] IGN said "Alpha Centauri is a better game than Civilization II; it's deep, rich, rewarding, thought-provoking in almost every way."[86] Game Revolution's reviewer was less magnanimous, saying "Alpha Centauri is at least as good a game as Civilization 2. But it is its great similarity that also does it the most detriment. Alpha Centauri simply does not do enough that is new; it just doesn't innovate enough to earn a higher grade."[93] The ability to create custom units was praised,[88][92] as was the depth of the tech tree.[92][93] The artificial intelligence of computer-controlled factions, which featured adaptability and behavioral subtlety,[105] was given mixed comments; some reviewers thought it was efficient and logical,[86][87] while others found it confusing or erratic.[92][93] Edge was disappointed in the game's diplomacy, finding "no more and no less than is expected from the genre" and unhappy with "the inability to sound out any real sense of relationship or rational discourse."[19]

If you're looking for gratuitous eye candy, then you're obviously in the wrong place. Alpha Centauri's graphics are quite good, but they're not going to make anyone sit up and take notice.

— Bob Colayco, FiringSquad[88]

The game's graphics were widely acknowledged to be above average at the time of its release, but not revolutionary.[86][88] Its maps and interface were considered detailed and in accordance with a space theme,[88][93] but the game was released with a limited color palette.[92] The in-game cutscenes, particularly the full motion video that accompanied technological advances, were praised for their quality and innovation.[88][92] Alpha Centauri's sound and music received similar comments;[86][92] FiringSquad said "[The sound effect quality] sort of follows the same line as the unit graphics – not too splashy but enough to get the job done."[88]

Next Generation reviewed the PC version of the game, rating it five stars out of five, and stated that "Sid Meier creates yet another masterpiece in this game that, at a glance, looks all too familiar."[95]

Alpha Centauri has won several Game of the Year awards,[22] including those from the Denver Post and the Toronto Sun. It won the "Turn-based Strategy Game of the Year" award from GameSpot as well. The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences awarded Alpha Centauri for "PC Strategy Game of the Year" at the 2nd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards; it also received nominations for "Game of the Year", "Computer Entertainment Title of the Year", and "Outstanding Achievement in Interactive Design".[106][107][108] In 2000, Alpha Centauri won the Origins Award for Best Strategy Computer Game of 1999.[109] The editors of PC Gamer US named Alpha Centauri their "Best Turn-Based Strategy Game" of 1999, and wrote that it "set a new standard for this venerable genre."[110] Alpha Centauri has the distinction of receiving gaming magazine PC Gamer's highest score to date as of 2019 (98%), alongside Half-Life 2 and Crysis,[22] surpassing Civilization II's score (97%).[111] Alien Crossfire was a runner-up for Computer Games Strategy Plus's 1999 "Add-on of the Year" award, which ultimately went to Heroes of Might and Magic III: Armageddon's Blade.[112]

Legacy edit

There have been no direct sequels beyond Alien Crossfire, something that writer Greg Tito attributed to Reynolds leaving Firaxis in 2000 to form Big Huge Games.[22] Alien Crossfire producer and lead designer Timothy Train also left Firaxis with Reynolds.[113] However, a spiritual sequel, Civilization: Beyond Earth, was announced by Firaxis in April 2014 and released on October 24, 2014; several of those that worked on Alpha Centauri helped to develop the new title.[114] A review in Polygon noted however that while the new game has better graphics, its story fails to rival the original, a sentiment echoed by another review in PC Gamer.[115][116] Another in Engadget noted "as a spiritual successor to Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, however, it's a cut-rate disappointment".[117]

Many of the features introduced in Alpha Centauri were carried over into subsequent Civilization titles; upon its release, Civilization III was compared negatively to Alpha Centauri,[118] whose Civilization characteristics were reminiscent of faction bonuses and penalties.[22] The government system in Civilization IV closely resembles Alpha Centauri's,[22] and Civilization V includes a new victory condition: the completion of the 'Utopia project', which is reminiscent of the Ascent to Transcendence secret project.[119]

According to Edge magazine, Alpha Centauri remained "highly regarded" in 2006.[19][22] A decade after its release, Sold-Out Software and GOG.com re-released the game for online-download sales.[120][121] Escapist Magazine reviewed the game in 2014, noting that "Alpha Centauri is still playable. It still has a unique flavor that is unlike anything else".[122]

After the release of the expansion, multimedia producer Michael Ely wrote a trilogy of novels based on the game. Writer Steve Darnall and illustrator Rafael Kayanan also made a graphic novel entitled Alpha Centauri: Power of the Mindworms.[71] Steve Jackson Games published GURPS Alpha Centauri, a sourcebook for the GURPS role-playing game set in the Alpha Centauri universe.[123]

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ Mac OS version developed by Westlake Interactive[5]
  1. ^ a b . 2001-02-10. Archived from the original on 2001-02-10. Retrieved 2023-10-02.
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  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Shah (2000), p.1.
  7. ^ Reynolds (1999), p.2.
  8. ^ Shah (2000), p.3.
  9. ^ a b Reynolds (1999), p.3.
  10. ^ a b c Rosen (1999)
  11. ^ a b c d Tito (2005), p.1.
  12. ^ McCubbin (1999), p.286.
  13. ^ a b c Reynolds (1999), p.246.
  14. ^ a b c d e Edge Staff (2006), p.1.
  15. ^ Reynolds (1999), pp.11–13.
  16. ^ Reynolds (1999), p.111.
  17. ^ a b c d Shah (2000), p.2.
  18. ^ a b c Train (1998-08-11), p2.
  19. ^ a b c d Edge Staff (2006), p.2.
  20. ^ Train (1999), pp.11–13.
  21. ^ Train (1999), p49.
  22. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Tito (2005), p.2.
  23. ^ a b McCubbin (1999), p.277.
  24. ^ McCubbin (1999), p.281.
  25. ^ a b c Shah (2000), p.4.
  26. ^ McCubbin (1999), p.282.
  27. ^ McCubbin (1999), p.283.
  28. ^ McCubbin (1999), p.284.
  29. ^ McCubbin (1999), p.285.
  30. ^ McCubbin (1999), p.287.
  31. ^
    • Carter, Tim (April 1999). "Review - Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri". Computer Gaming World. No. 177. Ziff Davis. p. 208. PROS: Wonderful "hard" sci-fi setting
    • Cachinero-Gorman, Alex (4 May 2017). "Alpha Centauri". Hardcore Gaming 101. Retrieved 11 November 2023. [...] Reynolds and his team worked tirelessly to imbue every inch of their game with the cool, atmospheric melancholy so dear to hard sci-fi.
    • Peckham, Matt (12 April 2014). "Interview: Sid Meier's Civilization Beyond Earth Might Be the Alpha Centauri Sequel You've Been Waiting For". Time. Time USA, LLC. Retrieved 11 November 2023. [...] Beyond Earth, which Firaxis is announcing at PAX East today, may finally bring an end to Firaxis' hard-sci-fi, turn-based, planet-bound 4X [...] drought. But it's not Alpha Centauri 2.
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References edit

  • Edge Staff (August 2006). . Edge. No. 165. Bath, UK BA1 2BW: Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 2012-05-27. Retrieved 2010-08-06.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  • Edwards, Tim (2010-06-15). "New Civilization 5 screenshots and E3 impressions". PC Gamer. Bath, UK BA1 2BW: Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved 2010-06-19.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  • Firaxis Games. . Official Site. Sparks, MD, USA 21152. Archived from the original on 2008-05-26. Retrieved 2010-08-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  • McCubbin, Chris (1999-02-09). Ladyman, David (ed.). Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. Prima's Official Strategy Guide. Additional material by Chris Pine. Roseville, CA, USA 95661: Prima Games. ISBN 978-0-7615-1584-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
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  • Reynolds, Brian; Meier, Sid; Train, Timothy; Kaufman, Douglas; Gordon, Bing & Members of Firaxis Games (February 1999). Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (Manual). Redwood City, CA, USA 94065: Electronic Arts.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
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  • Train, Timothy; Kaufman, Douglas; Pine, Chris; Foertsch, Gregory; Ely, Michael; Gordon, Bing; Meier, Sid & Members of Firaxis Games (October 1999). Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire (Manual). Redwood City, CA, USA 94065: Electronic Arts.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)

Further reading edit

External links edit

  • Official website mirrored by alphacentauri2.info
  • Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri at MobyGames
  • Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri at IMDb  

meier, alpha, centauri, video, game, considered, spiritual, sequel, civilization, series, science, fiction, depiction, 22nd, century, game, begins, seven, competing, ideological, factions, land, planet, chiron, planet, alpha, centauri, star, system, game, prog. Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri is a 4X video game considered a spiritual sequel to the Civilization series Set in a science fiction depiction of the 22nd century the game begins as seven competing ideological factions land on the planet Chiron Planet in the Alpha Centauri star system As the game progresses Planet s growing sentience becomes a formidable obstacle to the human colonists Sid Meier s Alpha CentauriDeveloper s Firaxis Games a Publisher s Electronic Arts Win Aspyr Media Mac Loki Software Linux Designer s Brian ReynoldsBing GordonSid MeierDouglas KaufmanTimothy TrainComposer s Jeff BriggsDavid EvansSeriesCivilizationPlatform s Windows Mac OS LinuxReleaseFebruary 9 1999 Alpha CentauriMicrosoft WindowsNA February 9 1999 2 UK February 19 1999 1 Mac OSNA February 3 2000 3 EU March 10 2000LinuxWW August 2000Alien CrossfireWindowsNA October 20 1999 4 UK November 25 1999 1 Mac OSEU March 10 2000NA May 16 2000 3 LinuxWW August 2000Genre s 4X Turn based strategyMode s Single player multiplayer Sid Meier designer of Civilization and Brian Reynolds designer of Civilization II developed Alpha Centauri after they left MicroProse to join with Jeff Briggs in creating a new video game developer Firaxis Games Electronic Arts released both Alpha Centauri and its expansion Sid Meier s Alien Crossfire in 1999 The following year Aspyr Media ported both titles to Classic Mac OS while Loki Software ported them to Linux Alpha Centauri features improvements on Civilization II s game engine including simultaneous multiplay social engineering climate customizable units alien native life additional diplomatic and spy options additional ways to win and greater mod ability Alien Crossfire introduces five new human and two non human factions as well as additional technologies facilities secret projects native life unit abilities and a victory condition The game received wide critical acclaim being compared favorably to Civilization II Critics praised its science fiction storyline comparing the plot to works by Stanley Kubrick Frank Herbert Arthur C Clarke and Isaac Asimov the in game writing the voice acting the user created custom units and the depth of the technology tree Alpha Centauri also won several awards for best game of the year and best strategy game of the year Contents 1 Synopsis 1 1 Setting 1 2 Characters and factions 1 3 Plot 2 Gameplay 3 Development 3 1 Inspirations 3 2 Alpha Centauri 3 3 Alien Crossfire 4 Reception 4 1 Critical reaction 5 Legacy 6 See also 7 Notes 8 References 9 Further reading 10 External linksSynopsis editSetting edit Space race victories in the Civilization series conclude with a journey to Alpha Centauri 6 Beginning with that premise the Alpha Centauri narrative starts in the 22nd century after the United Nations sends Unity a colonization mission to Alpha Centauri s planet Chiron Planet 7 Unbeknownst to humans advanced extraterrestrials Progenitors had been conducting experiments in vast distributed nervous systems culminating in a planetary biosphere sized presentient nervous system Manifold on Chiron leaving behind monoliths and artifacts on Planet to guide and examine the system s growth 8 Immediately prior to the start of the game a reactor malfunction on the Unity spacecraft wakes the crew and colonists early and irreparably severs communications with Earth 9 After the captain is assassinated the most powerful leaders on board build ideological factions with dedicated followers conflicting agendas for the future of mankind and desperately serious commitments 9 10 As the ship breaks up seven escape pods each containing a faction are scattered across Planet 11 In the Alien Crossfire expansion pack players learn that alien experiments led to disastrous consequences at Tau Ceti creating a hundred million year evolutionary cycle that ended with the eradication of most complex animal life in several neighboring inhabited star systems 12 After the disaster referred to by Progenitors as Tau Ceti Flowering the Progenitors split into two factions Manifold Caretakers opposed to further experimentation and dedicated to preventing another Flowering and Manifold Usurpers favoring further experimentation and intending to induce a controlled Flowering in Alpha Centauri s Planet In Alien Crossfire these factions compete along with the human factions for control over the destiny of Planet Characters and factions edit The game focuses on the leaders of seven factions chosen by the player from the 14 possible leaders in Alpha Centauri and Alien Crossfire and Planet voiced by Alena Kanka 13 The characters are developed from the faction leaders portraits the spoken monologues accompanying scientific discoveries and the photographs in the corner of a commlink home towns first steps first loves family graduation spacewalk 14 The leaders in Alpha Centauri comprise Lady Deirdre Skye a Scottish activist voiced by Carolyn Dahl of Gaia s Stepdaughters Chairman Sheng Ji Yang a Chinese Legalist official voiced by Lu Yu of the Human Hive Academician Prokhor Zakharov a Russian academic voiced by Yuri Nesteroff of the University of Planet CEO Nwabudike Morgan a Namibian businessman voiced by Regi Davis of Morgan Industries Colonel Corazon Santiago an American militiawoman voiced by Wanda Nino of the Spartan Federation Sister Miriam Godwinson an American minister and social psychologist voiced by Gretchen Weigel of the Lord s Believers and Commissioner Pravin Lal an Indian surgeon and diplomat voiced by Hesh Gordon of the Peacekeeping Forces 13 15 The player controls one of the leaders and competes against the others to colonize and conquer Planet 10 The Datalinks voiced by Robert Levy and Katherine Ferguson are minor characters who provide information to the player 13 16 Each faction excels at one or two important aspects of the game and follows a distinct philosophical belief such as technological utopianism Conclave Christianity free market capitalism militarist survivalism Chinese Legalism U N Charter humanitarianism or Environmentalist Gaia philosophy 17 18 The game takes place on Planet with its rolling red ochre plains and bands of lonely terraformed green 19 The seven additional faction leaders in Alien Crossfire are Prime Function Aki Zeta Five a Norwegian research assistant turned cyborg voiced by Allie Rivenbark of The Cybernetic Consciousness Captain Ulrik Svensgaard an American fisherman and naval officer voiced by James Liebman of The Nautilus Pirates Foreman Domai an Australian labor leader voiced by Frederick Serafin of The Free Drones Datajack Sinder Roze a Trinidadian hacker voiced by Christine Melton of The Data Angels Prophet Cha Dawn a human born on Planet voiced by Stacy Spenser of The Cult of Planet Guardian Lular H minee a Progenitor leader voiced by Jeff Gordon of The Manifold Caretakers and Conqueror Judaa Maar a Progenitor leader voiced by Jeff Gordon of The Manifold Usurpers 17 20 21 Plot edit The story unfolds via the introduction video explanations of new technologies videos obtained for completing secret projects interludes and cut scenes 6 The native life consists primarily of simple wormlike alien parasites and a type of red fungus that spreads rapidly via spores 17 The fungus is difficult to traverse provides invisibility for the enemy provides few resources and spawns mindworms that attack population centres and military units by neurally parasitising them 22 Mindworms can eventually be captured and bred in captivity and used as terroristic bioweapons 23 and the player eventually discovers that the fungus and mindworms can think collectively 23 A voice intrudes into the player s dreams and soon waking moments threatening more attacks if the industrial pollution and terraforming by the colonists is not reversed 22 24 The player discovers that Planet is a dormant semi sentient hive organism that will soon experience a metamorphosis which will destroy all human life 25 26 To counter this threat the player or a computer faction builds The Voice of Alpha Centauri secret project which artificially links Planet s distributed nervous system into the human Datalinks delaying Planet s metamorphosis into full self awareness but incidentally increasing its ultimate intelligence substantially by giving it access to all of humanity s accumulated knowledge 27 28 29 Finally the player or a computer faction embraces the Ascent to Transcendence in which humans too join their brains with the hive organism in its metamorphosis to godhood 30 Thus Alpha Centauri closes with a swell of hope and wonder in place of the expected triumphalism reassuring that the events of the game weren t the entirety of mankind s future but just another step 19 Gameplay edit nbsp Alpha Centauri and Alien Crossfire feature similar gameplay Diplomatic actions are handled in pop up windows while combat and unit movement are handled on the isometric field shown in the background Information such as unit health and status changes are displayed on the black field across the bottom Alpha Centauri a turn based strategy game with a hard science fiction setting 31 is played from an isometric perspective Many game features from Civilization II are present but renamed or slightly tweaked players establish bases Civilization II s cities build facilities buildings and secret projects Wonders of the World explore territory research technology and conquer other factions civilizations 6 11 32 33 In addition to conquering all non allied factions players may also win by obtaining votes from three quarters of the total population similar to Civilization IV s Diplomatic victory cornering the Global Energy Market completing the Ascent to Transcendence secret project or for alien factions constructing six Subspace Generators 6 34 35 36 The main map the upper two thirds of the screen is divided into squares on which players can establish bases move units and engage in combat Through terraforming players may modify the effects of the individual map squares on movement combat and resources Resources are used to feed the population construct units and facilities and supply energy Players can allocate energy between research into new technology and energy reserves Unlike Civilization II new technology grants access to additional unit components rather than pre designed units allowing players to design and re design units as their factions priorities shift 14 37 Energy reserves allow the player to upgrade units maintain facilities and attempt to win by the Global Energy Market scenario Bases are military strongpoints and objectives that are vital for all winning strategies They produce military units house the population collect energy and build secret projects and Subspace Generators Facilities and secret projects improve the performance of individual bases and of the entire faction In addition to terraforming optimizing individual base performance and building secret projects players may also benefit their factions through social engineering probe teams and diplomacy Social engineering modifies the ideologically based bonuses and penalties forced by the player s choice of faction 11 14 17 18 38 Probe teams can sabotage and steal information units technology and energy from enemy bases while diplomacy lets the player create coalitions with other factions It also allows the trade or transfer of units bases technology and energy The Planetary Council similar to the United Nations Security Council takes Planet wide actions and determines population victories 39 In addition to futuristic technological advances and secret projects the game includes alien life structures and machines 6 Xenofungus and sea fungus provide movement combat and resource penalties as well as concealment for mind worms and spore launchers 25 Immobile fungal towers spawn native life Native life including the seaborne Isles of the Deep and Sealurks and airborne Locusts of Chiron use psionic combat an alternate form of combat which ignores weapons and armor 25 Monoliths repair units and provide resources artifacts yield new technology and hasten secret projects landmarks provide resource bonuses and random events add danger and opportunity Excessive development leads to terraforming destroying fungus blooms and new native life Alpha Centauri provides a single player mode and supports customization and multiplayer Players may customize the game by choosing options at the beginning of the game using the built in scenario and map editors and modifying Alpha Centauri s game files 40 In addition to a choice of seven or 14 in Alien Crossfire factions pre game options include scenario game customized random map difficulty level and game rules that include victory conditions research control and initial map knowledge The scenario and map editors allow players to create customized scenarios and maps 41 The game s basic rules diplomatic dialog and the factions starting abilities are in text files which the designers have done their best to make it reasonably easy to modify even for non programmers 42 43 Alpha Centauri supports play by email PBEM and TCP IP mode featuring simultaneous movement and introduces direct player to player negotiation allowing the unconstrained trade of technology energy maps and other elements 44 Development editInspirations edit In 1996 MicroProse released the lauded Civilization II designed by Brian Reynolds 45 46 Spectrum Holobyte who owned MicroProse at the time opted to consolidate their business under the MicroProse name moving the company from Maryland to California by the time the game shipped 47 and laying off several MicroProse employees Disagreements between the new management and its employees prompted Reynolds Jeff Briggs and Sid Meier designer of the original Civilization to leave MicroProse and found Firaxis 45 47 48 Although unable to use the same intellectual property as Civilization II the new company felt that players wanted a new sweeping epic of a turn based game Having just completed a game of human history up to the present they wanted a fresh topic and chose science fiction 49 With no previous experience in science fiction games the developers believed future history was a fitting first foray 50 For the elements of exploring and terraforming an alien world they chose a plausible near future situation of a human mission to colonize the solar system s nearest neighbour and human factions 51 Reynolds researched science fiction for the game s writing 47 His inspiration included classic works of science fiction including Frank Herbert s The Jesus Incident and Hellstrom s Hive A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge and The Mote in God s Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle for alien races Kim Stanley Robinson s Red Mars Slant by Greg Bear and Stephen R Donaldson s The Real Story for future technology and science and Dune by Herbert and Bear s Anvil of Stars for negative interactions between humans 52 53 Alpha Centauri set out to capture the whole sweep of humanity s future including technology futuristic warfare social and economic development the future of the human condition spirituality and philosophy 49 Reynolds also said that getting philosophy into the game was one of the attractions of the game 47 Believing good science fiction thrives on constraint the developers began with near future technologies As they proceeded into the future they tried to present a coherent logical and detailed picture of future developments in physics biology information technology economics society government and philosophy 50 Alien ecologies and mysterious intelligences were incorporated into Alpha Centauri as external natural forces intended to serve as flywheels for the backstory and a catalyst for many player intelligences 51 Chris Pine creator of the in game map of Planet strove to make Planet look like a real planet which resulted in evidence of tectonic action Another concern was that Planet matched the story which resulted in the fungus being connected across continents as it is supposed to be a gigantic neural network 54 Terraforming is a natural outgrowth of colonizing an alien world 55 The first playable prototype was just a map generator that tested climate changes during the game 47 This required the designers to create a world builder program and climatic model far more powerful than anything they had done before Temperature wind and rainfall patterns were modeled in ways that allow players to make changes for example creating a ridge line and then watching the effects In addition to raising terrain the player can also divert rivers dig huge boreholes into the planet s mantle and melt ice caps 55 In addition to scientific advances the designers speculated on the future development of human society 56 The designers allow the player to decide on a whole series of value choices and choose a ruthless moderate or idealistic stance Reynolds said the designers don t promote a single right answer instead giving each value choice positive and negative consequences This design was intended to force the player to think and make the game addictive 56 He also commented that Alpha Centauri s fictional nature allowed them to draw their characters a lot more sharply and distinctly than the natural blurring and greyness of history 47 Chiron the name of the planet is the name of the only non barbaric centaur in Greek mythology and an important loregiver and teacher for humanity The name also pays homage to James P Hogan s 1982 space opera novel Voyage from Yesteryear in which a human colony is artificially planted by an automatic probe on a planet later named by colonists as Chiron In the game Chiron has two moons named after the centaurs Nessus and Pholus with the combined tidal force of Earth s Moon and is the second planet out from Alpha Centauri A the innermost planet being the Mercury like planet named after the centaur Eurytion Alpha Centauri B is also dubbed Hercules a reference to him killing several centaurs in mythology and the second star preventing the formation of larger planets The arrival on Chiron is referred to as Planetfall which is a term used in many science fiction novels including Robert A Heinlein s Future History series and Infocom s celebrated comic interactive fiction adventure Planetfall Vernor Vinge s concept of technological singularity is the origin of the Transcendence concept The game s cutscenes use montages of live action video CGI or both most of the former is from the 1992 experimental documentary Baraka Alpha Centauri edit In July 1996 Firaxis began work on Alpha Centauri 57 58 with Reynolds heading the project 47 Meier and Reynolds wrote playable prototype code and Jason Coleman wrote the first lines of the development libraries 47 58 59 Because the development of Gettysburg took up most of Firaxis time the designers spent the first year prototyping the basic ideas 51 By late 1996 the developers were playing games on the prototype and by the middle of the next year they were working on a multiplayer engine 51 Although Firaxis intended to include multiplayer support in its games an important goal was to create games with depth and longevity in single player mode because they believed that the majority of players spend most of their time playing this way Reynolds felt that smart computer opponents are an integral part of a classic computer game and considered it a challenge to make them so 60 Reynolds previous games omitted internet support because he believed that complex turn based games with many player options and opportunities for player input are difficult to facilitate online 61 Reynolds said that the most important principle of game design is for the designer to play the game as it is developed 47 Reynolds claimed that this was how a good artificial intelligence AI was built To this end he would track the decisions he made and why he made them as he played the game 60 The designer also watched what the computer players did noting dumb actions and trying to discover why the computer made them 60 62 Reynolds then taught the computer his reasoning process so the AI could find the right choice when presented several attractive possibilities 60 62 He said the AI for diplomatic personalities was the best he had done up to that point 47 Doug Kaufman a co designer of Civilization II was invited to join development as a game balancer 47 51 Reynolds cited the Alpha Centauri s balance for the greater sense of urgency and the more pressing pacing than in his earlier game Sid Meier s Colonization 47 According to producer Timothy Train in designing the strengths and weaknesses of the factions the goal was to suggest without requiring certain strategies and give the player interesting and fun things to do without unbalancing the game 38 He didn t want a faction to be dependent on its strength or a faction s power to be dominant over the rest 18 Train felt that fun meant the factions always have something fun to do with their attributes 63 Around the summer of 1997 the staff began research on the scientific realities involved in interstellar travel 51 In late 1997 Bing Gordon then Chief Creative Officer of Electronic Arts joined the team and was responsible for the Planetary Council extensive diplomacy and landmarks 47 64 A few months before the 1998 Electronic Entertainment Expo E3 the team incorporated the Explore Discover Build Conquer marketing campaign into the game 64 The game was announced in May 1998 at E3 In the latter half of 1998 the team produced a polished and integrated interface wrote the game manual and foreign language translations painted the faction leader portraits and terrain built the 3D vehicles and vehicle parts and created the music 65 Michael Ely directed the Secret Project movies and cast the faction leaders 66 25 volunteers participated in Firaxis first public beta test 67 The beta testers suggested the Diplomatic and Economic victories and the Random Events 67 There were a lot of firsts for our team in the making of Alpha Centauri We had never done a public beta test before Alpha Centauri and this was also the first time we released a demo before the game was out Since we d not done one before we didn t know exactly what to expect when we released it but it turned out to fit right in with Firaxis iterative design method Brian Reynolds on development aspects Firaxis introduced during Alpha Centauri 68 The design team started with a very simple playable game 68 They strengthened the fun aspects and fixed or removed the unenjoyable ones a process Sid Meier called surrounding the fun 68 After the revision they played it again repeating the cycle of revision and play 68 Playing the game repeatedly and in depth was a rule at Firaxis 63 In the single player mode the team tried extreme strategies to find any sure fire paths to victory and to see how often a particular computer faction ends up at the bottom 63 The goal was a product of unprecedented depth scope longevity and addictiveness where the player is always challenged by the game to come up with new strategies with no all powerful factions or unstoppable tactics 63 According to Reynolds the process has been around since Sid Meier s early days at Microprose 68 At Firaxis as iterations continue they expand the group giving feedback bringing in outside gamers with fresh perspectives 69 Alpha Centauri was the first Firaxis game with public beta testers 69 Finally Brian Reynolds discussed the use of the demo in the development process 69 Originally a marketing tool released prior to the game they started getting feedback 70 They were able to incorporate many suggestions into the retail version 70 According to Brian Reynolds they made improvement in the game s interface added a couple of new features and fixed a few glitches 70 They also improved some rules fine tuned the game balance and improved the AI 70 Finally he adds that they continued to add patches to enhance the game after the game was released 70 In the months leading to the release of Alpha Centauri multimedia producer Michael Ely wrote the 35 weekly episodes of Journey to Centauri detailing the splintering of the U N mission to Alpha Centauri 71 Alien Crossfire edit A month after Alpha Centauri s February 1999 release the Firaxis team began work on the expansion pack Sid Meier s Alien Crossfire 57 72 73 Alien Crossfire features seven new factions two that are non human new technologies new facilities new secret projects new alien life forms new unit special abilities new victory conditions including the new Progenitor Victory and several additional concepts and strategies 57 The development team included Train as producer and designer Chris Pine as programmer Jerome Atherholt and Greg Foertsch as artists and Doug Kaufman as co designer and game balancer 47 74 The team considered several ideas including a return to a post apocalyptic earth and the conquest of another planet in the Alpha Centauri system before deciding to keep the new title on Planet The premise allowed them to mix and match old and new characters and delve into the mysteries of the monoliths and alien artifacts 73 The backstory evolved quickly and the main conflict centered on the return of the original alien inhabitants 74 The idea of humans inadvertently caught up in an off world civil war focused the story 74 Train wanted to improve the build aspects feeling that the god game genre had always been heavily slanted towards the Conquer end of the spectrum 74 He wanted to provide builders with the tools to construct an empire in the face of heated competition 74 The internet community provided invaluable feedback 74 The first call for features was posted around April 1999 and produced the Fletchette Defense System Algorithmic Enhancement and The Nethack Terminus 74 The team had several goals factions should not be locked in to certain strategies players should have interesting things to do without unbalancing the game and the factions must be fun to play 75 The team believed the coolness of the Progenitor aliens would determine the success or failure of Alien Crossfire 76 They strove to make them feel significantly different to play but still compatible with the existing game mechanics 76 The developers eventually provided the aliens with Battle Ogres a Planetary survey non blind research and other powers to produce a nasty and potent race that would take the combined might of humanity to bring them down 76 Chris Pine modified the AI to account for the additions 47 The team also used artwork sound effects music and diplomatic text to set the aliens apart 76 Other than the aliens the Pirates proved to be the toughest faction to balance because their ocean start gave them huge advantages 77 Upon completion the team felt that Alien Crossfire was somewhere between an expansion and a full blown sequel 77 In the months leading to the release of Alien Crossfire multimedia producer Michael Ely wrote the 9 episodes of Centauri Arrival introducing the Alien Crossfire factions 71 The game initially had a single production run Electronic Arts bundled Alpha Centauri and Alien Crossfire in the Alpha Centauri Planetary Pack in 2000 and included both games in The Laptop Collection in 2003 78 79 In 2000 both Alpha Centauri and Alien Crossfire were ported to Classic Mac OS by Aspyr Media and to Linux by Loki Software 6 80 81 Reception editAlpha Centauri received wide critical acclaim upon its release 82 83 with reviewers voicing respect for the game s pedigree especially that of Reynolds and Meier The video game review aggregator websites GameRankings and Metacritic which collect data from numerous review websites listed scores of 92 and 89 respectively 84 85 The game was favorably compared to Reynold s previous title Civilization II 6 86 87 88 and Rawn Shah of IT World Canada praised the expansion for a believable plot 6 However despite its critical reception it sold the fewest copies of all the games in the Civilization series 22 It sold more than 100 000 copies in its first two months of release This was followed by 50 000 copies in April May and June 10 In the United States Alpha Centauri was the tenth best selling computer game of 1999 s first half 89 Its sales in that country alone reached 224 939 copies by the end of 1999 90 and rose to 281 115 units by September 2000 91 Critical reaction edit ReceptionAggregate scoreAggregatorScoreMetacritic92 100 82 Review scoresPublicationScoreEdge9 10 94 GamePro nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 87 GameRevolutionB 93 IGN9 5 10 86 Next Generation nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 95 The Adrenaline Vault nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 92 FiringSquad90 88 The game showed well at the 1998 Electronic Entertainment Expo E3 96 Walter Morbeck of GameSpot said that Alpha Centauri was more than hi tech physics and new ways to blow each other up and that the game would feature realistic aliens 97 Terry Coleman of Computer Gaming World predicted that Alpha Centauri would be another huge hit 98 OGR awarded it Most Promising Strategy Game and one of the top 25 games of E3 98 99 100 In a vote of 27 journalists from 22 gaming magazine Alpha Centauri won Best Turn Based Strategy of E3 Show Award 101 Aaron John Loeb the Awards Committee Chairman said for those that understand the intricacies the wonder the glory of turn based culture building this is the game worth skipping class for 102 Alpha Centauri s science fiction storyline received high praise IGN considered the game an exception to PC sci fi cliches 86 and GamePro compared the plot to the works of writers Stanley Kubrick and Isaac Asimov 87 J C Herz of The New York Times suggested that the game was a marriage of SimCity and Frank Herbert s Dune 103 GamePro s Dan Morris said As the single player campaign builds to its final showdown the ramifications of the final theoretical discoveries elevate Alpha Centauri from great strategy game to science fiction epic 87 Game Revolution said The well crafted story admirable science fiction world fully realized scenario and quality core gameplay are sure to please 93 Edge praised the uniqueness of expression saying it was the same kind of old fashioned consensual storytelling that once drew universes out of ASCII 14 The in game writing and faction leaders were also well received for their believability especially the voice acting 11 86 88 92 GameSpot reviewer Denny Atkin called the factions and their abilities Alpha Centauri s most impressive aspect 104 Greg Tito of The Escapist said the genius of the game is how it flawlessly blends its great writing with strategy elements 22 Alpha Centauri s turn based gameplay including the technology trees and factional warfare was commonly compared to Civilization and Civilization II 94 The Adrenaline Vault s Pete Hines said While Alpha Centauri is the evolutionary off spring to Civilization and Civilization II it is not Civilization II in space Although the comparison is inevitable because of the lineage it is still short sighted 92 Edge in 2006 praised Alpha Centauri s greater sophistications as a strategy game 14 IGN said Alpha Centauri is a better game than Civilization II it s deep rich rewarding thought provoking in almost every way 86 Game Revolution s reviewer was less magnanimous saying Alpha Centauri is at least as good a game as Civilization 2 But it is its great similarity that also does it the most detriment Alpha Centauri simply does not do enough that is new it just doesn t innovate enough to earn a higher grade 93 The ability to create custom units was praised 88 92 as was the depth of the tech tree 92 93 The artificial intelligence of computer controlled factions which featured adaptability and behavioral subtlety 105 was given mixed comments some reviewers thought it was efficient and logical 86 87 while others found it confusing or erratic 92 93 Edge was disappointed in the game s diplomacy finding no more and no less than is expected from the genre and unhappy with the inability to sound out any real sense of relationship or rational discourse 19 If you re looking for gratuitous eye candy then you re obviously in the wrong place Alpha Centauri s graphics are quite good but they re not going to make anyone sit up and take notice Bob Colayco FiringSquad 88 The game s graphics were widely acknowledged to be above average at the time of its release but not revolutionary 86 88 Its maps and interface were considered detailed and in accordance with a space theme 88 93 but the game was released with a limited color palette 92 The in game cutscenes particularly the full motion video that accompanied technological advances were praised for their quality and innovation 88 92 Alpha Centauri s sound and music received similar comments 86 92 FiringSquad said The sound effect quality sort of follows the same line as the unit graphics not too splashy but enough to get the job done 88 Next Generation reviewed the PC version of the game rating it five stars out of five and stated that Sid Meier creates yet another masterpiece in this game that at a glance looks all too familiar 95 Alpha Centauri has won several Game of the Year awards 22 including those from the Denver Post and the Toronto Sun It won the Turn based Strategy Game of the Year award from GameSpot as well The Academy of Interactive Arts amp Sciences awarded Alpha Centauri for PC Strategy Game of the Year at the 2nd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards it also received nominations for Game of the Year Computer Entertainment Title of the Year and Outstanding Achievement in Interactive Design 106 107 108 In 2000 Alpha Centauri won the Origins Award for Best Strategy Computer Game of 1999 109 The editors of PC Gamer US named Alpha Centauri their Best Turn Based Strategy Game of 1999 and wrote that it set a new standard for this venerable genre 110 Alpha Centauri has the distinction of receiving gaming magazine PC Gamer s highest score to date as of 2019 98 alongside Half Life 2 and Crysis 22 surpassing Civilization II s score 97 111 Alien Crossfire was a runner up for Computer Games Strategy Plus s 1999 Add on of the Year award which ultimately went to Heroes of Might and Magic III Armageddon s Blade 112 Legacy editThere have been no direct sequels beyond Alien Crossfire something that writer Greg Tito attributed to Reynolds leaving Firaxis in 2000 to form Big Huge Games 22 Alien Crossfire producer and lead designer Timothy Train also left Firaxis with Reynolds 113 However a spiritual sequel Civilization Beyond Earth was announced by Firaxis in April 2014 and released on October 24 2014 several of those that worked on Alpha Centauri helped to develop the new title 114 A review in Polygon noted however that while the new game has better graphics its story fails to rival the original a sentiment echoed by another review in PC Gamer 115 116 Another in Engadget noted as a spiritual successor to Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri however it s a cut rate disappointment 117 Many of the features introduced in Alpha Centauri were carried over into subsequent Civilization titles upon its release Civilization III was compared negatively to Alpha Centauri 118 whose Civilization characteristics were reminiscent of faction bonuses and penalties 22 The government system in Civilization IV closely resembles Alpha Centauri s 22 and Civilization V includes a new victory condition the completion of the Utopia project which is reminiscent of the Ascent to Transcendence secret project 119 According to Edge magazine Alpha Centauri remained highly regarded in 2006 19 22 A decade after its release Sold Out Software and GOG com re released the game for online download sales 120 121 Escapist Magazine reviewed the game in 2014 noting that Alpha Centauri is still playable It still has a unique flavor that is unlike anything else 122 After the release of the expansion multimedia producer Michael Ely wrote a trilogy of novels based on the game Writer Steve Darnall and illustrator Rafael Kayanan also made a graphic novel entitled Alpha Centauri Power of the Mindworms 71 Steve Jackson Games published GURPS Alpha Centauri a sourcebook for the GURPS role playing game set in the Alpha Centauri universe 123 See also edit nbsp 1990s portal nbsp Video games portal nbsp Speculative fiction portal nbsp Philosophy portal Alpha Centauri in fiction Group mind science fiction Survivalism in fictionNotes edit Mac OS version developed by Westlake Interactive 5 a b Gone Gold EuroGold 2001 02 10 Archived from the original on 2001 02 10 Retrieved 2023 10 02 I G N Staff 1999 02 04 Brian Reynolds Brave New World IGN Retrieved 2023 10 02 a b SMAC Ships Aspyr Archived from the original on June 20 2003 Retrieved January 19 2024 The Games Of 1999 Gone Gold Archived from the original on February 3 2001 Retrieved January 19 2024 Sim Theme Park Alpha Centauri patches in circulation Macworld Retrieved 2024 01 19 a b c d e f g h Shah 2000 p 1 Reynolds 1999 p 2 Shah 2000 p 3 a b Reynolds 1999 p 3 a b c Rosen 1999 a b c d Tito 2005 p 1 McCubbin 1999 p 286 a b c Reynolds 1999 p 246 a b c d e Edge Staff 2006 p 1 Reynolds 1999 pp 11 13 Reynolds 1999 p 111 a b c d Shah 2000 p 2 a b c Train 1998 08 11 p2 a b c d Edge Staff 2006 p 2 Train 1999 pp 11 13 Train 1999 p49 a b c d e f g h i j Tito 2005 p 2 a b McCubbin 1999 p 277 McCubbin 1999 p 281 a b c Shah 2000 p 4 McCubbin 1999 p 282 McCubbin 1999 p 283 McCubbin 1999 p 284 McCubbin 1999 p 285 McCubbin 1999 p 287 Carter Tim April 1999 Review Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri Computer Gaming World No 177 Ziff Davis p 208 PROS Wonderful hard sci fi settingCachinero Gorman Alex 4 May 2017 Alpha Centauri Hardcore Gaming 101 Retrieved 11 November 2023 Reynolds and his team worked tirelessly to imbue every inch of their game with the cool atmospheric melancholy so dear to hard sci fi Peckham Matt 12 April 2014 Interview Sid Meier s Civilization Beyond Earth Might Be the Alpha Centauri Sequel You ve Been Waiting For Time Time USA LLC Retrieved 11 November 2023 Beyond Earth which Firaxis is announcing at PAX East today may finally bring an end to Firaxis hard sci fi turn based planet bound 4X drought But it s not Alpha Centauri 2 Noer Michael 1997 07 25 Sid starts up Again Forbes com Archived from the original on 2012 10 25 Retrieved 2010 08 07 Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri Kickstartnews com Archived from the original on 2014 02 21 Retrieved 2010 08 07 Herz J C March 18 1999 Game Theory On 2067 Battleground 1999 Political Passions The New York Times Archived from the original on July 25 2010 Retrieved November 6 2009 Shah 2000 p 5 Sid Meier s Alien Crossfire Insidemacgames com 2000 09 18 Archived from the original on 2012 03 16 Retrieved 2010 08 07 McCubbin 1999 p 230 a b Train 1998 08 11 p1 Reynolds 1999 p 132 Jr Durham Joel May 1999 Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri Intelligent life in space Maximum PC 4 5 80 ISSN 1522 4279 Archived from the original on 2023 09 23 Retrieved 2020 10 20 The Scenario Editor Archived 2015 10 05 at the Wayback Machine Civilization Gaming Networks Reynolds 1999 p 207 Alpha x txt editing v 1 3 Archived 2015 09 23 at the Wayback Machine Civilization Gaming Networks Reynolds 1998 12 09 p2 a b Features The History of Civilization Gamasutra Archived from the original on 2014 02 22 Retrieved 2010 08 07 Civilization II pc reviews at Metacritic com 1996 02 29 Retrieved 2010 08 07 permanent dead link a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Harrison 2000 History for MicroProse Software Inc Mobygames com Archived from the original on 2014 03 29 Retrieved 2010 08 07 a b Reynolds 1998 11 23 p 237 a b Reynolds 1998 06 04 p1 a b c d e f Reynolds 1998 11 23 pp 238 Reynolds February 1999 p 228 Reynolds February 1999 pp 229 Pine 1999 p 70 a b Reynolds 1998 06 04 p2 a b Reynolds 1998 06 04 p3 a b c Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri Firaxis Games Archived from the original on 2013 01 26 a b Reynolds 1998 11 23 p 236 Brian Reynolds Launches New Development Studio IGN 2000 02 28 Archived from the original on February 18 2002 Retrieved 2010 09 05 a b c d Reynolds 1998 04 14 p1 Reynolds 1998 12 09 p1 a b Reynolds 1998 04 14 p2 a b c d Train 1998 08 11 p3 a b Reynolds 1998 11 23 p 239 Reynolds 1998 11 23 pp 240 1 Reynolds 1998 11 23 p 241 a b Reynolds 1998 11 23 p 242 a b c d e Reynolds 1999 03 15 p1 a b c Reynolds 1999 03 15 p2 a b c d e Reynolds 1999 03 15 p3 a b c Official Site The Story IGN Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri IGN Archived from the original on February 18 2002 Retrieved 2010 08 07 a b Train 1999 08 25 p 45 a b c d e f g Train 1999 08 25 p 46 Train 1999 08 25 pp 47 8 a b c d Train 1999 08 25 p 47 a b Train 1999 08 25 p 48 Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri Planetary Pack Moby Games Archived from the original on 2009 06 04 Retrieved 2009 06 26 The Laptop Collection Moby Games Archived from the original on 2009 02 12 Retrieved 2010 07 08 Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri Insidemacgames com 2000 06 09 Archived from the original on 2010 12 02 Retrieved 2010 08 07 Shah Rawn 2000 08 24 Review Alpha Centauri for Linux Archives cnn com Archived from the original on 2007 01 27 Retrieved 2010 08 07 a b Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri Reviews Metacritic Retrieved 2010 06 22 Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri pc reviews Metacritic com 1999 01 31 Archived from the original on 2010 06 17 Retrieved 2010 08 07 Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri for PC GameRankings CBS Interactive Archived from the original on September 30 2009 Retrieved October 29 2009 Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri for Windows Moby Games Archived from the original on June 28 2009 Retrieved October 29 2009 a b c d e f g h IGN Staff Alpha Centauri PC Review IGN Archived from the original on April 4 2002 Retrieved 2010 06 22 a b c d e Morris Dan Alpha Centauri Review from GamePro GamePro Archived from the original on 2011 06 07 Retrieved 2010 06 22 a b c d e f g h i Colayco Bob Alpha Centauri Review FiringSquad Archived from the original on 2010 09 30 Retrieved 2010 06 22 IGN Staff August 3 1999 And the Winners Are IGN Archived from the original on March 5 2000 Retrieved November 18 2021 Staff April 2000 PC Gamer Editors Choice Winners Does Quality Matter PC Gamer US 7 4 33 Jones George September 2000 Call to Power 2 The Numbers Racket Computer Gaming World No 194 pp 54 55 a b c d e f g h i Hines Pete Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri PC Review The Adrenaline Vault Archived from the original on 2010 08 26 Retrieved 2010 06 22 a b c d e f B Johnny Alpha Centauri Review for the PC Game Revolution Archived from the original on 2012 06 16 Retrieved 2010 06 22 a b Alpha Centauri Edge No 69 Future Publishing March 1999 pp 74 75 a b Finals Next Generation No 52 Imagine Media April 1999 p 87 Reynolds 1998 11 23 p 240 Morbeck Walter 1998 06 03 Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri GameSpot Archived from the original on 1999 01 28 Coleman Terry 1998 06 03 GameSpot s E3 News Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri GameSpot Archived from the original on 1999 01 29 Retrieved 2010 09 16 Specials Best of E3 Expo 98 OGR com 1998 Archived from the original on 1999 02 03 Retrieved 2010 09 16 Specials Best of E3 Expo 98 OGR com 1998 Archived from the original on 1999 02 03 Retrieved 2010 09 16 UGO Best of E3 Show Award Winners UGO Networks 1998 Archived from the original on 1999 02 21 Best of E3 Show Awards 1998 UGO 1998 Archived from the original on 1998 12 01 Retrieved 2010 09 16 Herz J C 1999 03 18 Game Theory On 2067 Battleground 1999 Political Passions The New York Times Archived from the original on 2010 07 25 Retrieved 2010 06 22 Atkin Denny 1999 02 19 Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri Review GameSpot Archived from the original on 2011 09 07 Retrieved 2011 03 01 Scheisel Seth June 7 2005 Redefining the Power of the Gamer The New York Times Archived from the original on 4 October 2013 Retrieved 28 September 2016 Second Interactive Achievement Awards Game of the Year Academy of Interactive Arts amp Sciences Archived from the original on November 4 1999 Retrieved 20 May 2023 Second Interactive Achievement Awards Computer Interactive org Academy of Interactive Arts amp Sciences Archived from the original on November 4 1999 Retrieved 20 May 2023 Second Interactive Achievement Awards Craft Award Academy of Interactive Arts amp Sciences Archived from the original on November 3 1999 Retrieved 20 May 2023 Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri The Game Firaxis Archived from the original on 2008 01 24 Staff March 2000 The Sixth Annual PC Gamer Awards PC Gamer US 7 3 46 47 49 50 54 56 60 62 PC Gamer Online Civilization II July 1996 PC Gamer 1999 10 08 Archived from the original on November 13 1999 Retrieved 2020 10 28 Staff March 6 2000 The Computer Games Awards The Best Games of 1999 Computer Games Strategy Plus Archived from the original on March 24 2005 Firaxis Games Allgame com Archived from the original on 2014 11 14 Retrieved 2020 11 02 Futter Mike April 12 2014 Civilization Beyond Earth Game Informer Archived from the original on April 15 2014 Retrieved April 12 2014 Cross Katherine 2014 11 26 Why Beyond Earth can t top Alpha Centauri Polygon Archived from the original on 2019 02 13 Retrieved 2019 02 12 Cobbett Richard 2014 11 01 Civilization From Alpha Centauri To Beyond Earth PC Gamer Archived from the original on 2019 02 13 Retrieved 2019 02 12 Civilization Beyond Earth review Buy in Alpha Centauri Engadget 23 October 2014 Archived from the original on 2019 02 13 Retrieved 2019 02 12 Schiesel Seth September 11 2005 The New Season Video Games Going to War in the Matrix Middle Earth or the Bronx The New York Times Archived from the original on July 29 2010 Retrieved November 6 2009 Edwards 2010 Fink Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri Complete Mastertronic Archived from the original on 2010 11 29 Retrieved 2011 01 25 SID MEIER S ALPHA CENTAURI PLANETARY PACK Archived 2015 07 16 at the Wayback Machine GOG com accessed July 16 2015 Good Old Reviews Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri The Escapist www escapistmagazine com 4 January 2014 Archived from the original on 2019 02 12 Retrieved 2019 02 12 Alpha Centauri Steve Jackson Games Archived from the original on 2018 09 07 Retrieved 2020 10 28 References editEdge Staff August 2006 Time Extend Alpha Centauri Edge No 165 Bath UK BA1 2BW Future Publishing Limited Archived from the original on 2012 05 27 Retrieved 2010 08 06 a href Template Cite magazine html title Template Cite magazine cite magazine a CS1 maint location link Edwards Tim 2010 06 15 New Civilization 5 screenshots and E3 impressions PC Gamer Bath UK BA1 2BW Future Publishing Limited Retrieved 2010 06 19 a href Template Cite magazine html title Template Cite magazine cite magazine a CS1 maint location link Firaxis Games Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri Official Site Sparks MD USA 21152 Archived from the original on 2008 05 26 Retrieved 2010 08 07 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint location link McCubbin Chris 1999 02 09 Ladyman David ed Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri Prima s Official Strategy Guide Additional material by Chris Pine Roseville CA USA 95661 Prima Games ISBN 978 0 7615 1584 5 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location link Harrison Mark 2000 02 11 Brian Reynolds Interview IGN San Francisco CA USA 94107 IGN Entertainment Archived from the original on 2005 02 21 Retrieved 2010 07 18 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint location link Reynolds Brian Train Timothy 1999 03 15 Designer Diaries Alpha Centauri GameSpot San Francisco CA USA 94105 CBS Interactive Inc Archived from the original on 2010 03 13 Retrieved 2010 07 29 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link CS1 maint location link Reynolds Brian Meier Sid Train Timothy Kaufman Douglas Gordon Bing amp Members of Firaxis Games February 1999 Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri Manual Redwood City CA USA 94065 Electronic Arts a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location link Rosen Michelle 1999 07 23 Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri Boosts Electronic Arts Results Space com Archived from the original on 2005 04 05 Retrieved 2010 06 21 Shah Rawn 2000 08 21 Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri New life and new civilization for Linux IT World Canada Retrieved 2010 06 23 Tito Greg 2005 10 04 Alpha Centauri The Escapist Durham NC USA 27713 Themis Group Inc Archived from the original on 2010 07 23 Retrieved 2010 08 06 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint location link Train Timothy Kaufman Douglas Pine Chris Foertsch Gregory Ely Michael Gordon Bing Meier Sid amp Members of Firaxis Games October 1999 Sid Meier s Alien Crossfire Manual Redwood City CA USA 94065 Electronic Arts a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location link Further reading editDiGiacomo Dan May 1999 On deck Alpha Centauri InQuest No 49 Wizard Entertainment p 88 1 Ely Michael 2000 11 28 Centauri Dawn Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri Book I New York NY USA 10020 Pocket Books ISBN 978 0 671 04077 2 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location link covers the early years of colonization of the planet Chiron and describes the siege of United Nations HQ by the Spartans the loss of Peacekeeper sovereignty and the consequent flight by the United Nations survivors into Gaian territory Ely Michael 2001 08 28 Dragon Sun Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri Book II New York NY USA 10020 Pocket Books ISBN 978 0 671 04078 9 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location link occurs years after the events of Centauri Dawn and describes the Gaia s Stepdaughters use of mindworms to rebuff an attack by the technologically superior Morgan Industries Ely Michael 2002 01 29 Twilight of the Mind Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri Book III New York NY USA 10020 Pocket Books ISBN 978 0 671 04079 6 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location link follows the tension between the University of Planet and the Lord s Believers and describes the use of singularity bombs to destroy Morgan Industries and the Spartan Federation and the native life uprising which destroys humanity Jenson Chris Radcliffe Doug Chin Elliot O Brien Ethan Design 1999 02 17 Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri Game Guide GameSpot San Francisco CA USA 94105 CBS Interactive Inc Archived from the original on January 6 2010 Retrieved 2010 08 03 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint location link Kayanan Rafael Darnall Stevel 2000 01 01 Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri Power of the Mindworms New York NY USA 10005 NBM Publishing Inc ISBN 978 1 56163 242 8 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location link Moscatello Rick June 1999 Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri The Duelist No 38 Wizards of the Coast pp 84 85 External links edit nbsp Wikiquote has quotations related to Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri Official website mirrored by alphacentauri2 info Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri at MobyGames Sid Meier s Alpha Centauri at IMDb nbsp Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Sid Meier 27s Alpha Centauri amp oldid 1219506117, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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