Video games - Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

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	Video games - Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (sometimes abbreviated to SMAC) is a turn-based strategy 4X computer game created by Brian Reynolds and Sid Meier under the auspices of Firaxis Games in 1999. It is based on a fictional attempt by human beings to colonize a planet in the Alpha Centauri star system. It picks up where the games Sid Meier's Civilization I & II left off. An expansion pack, Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire
(aka SMACX or just SMAX) was later released. Both -- the original Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri and the Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire expansion pack -- were later released in a combined edition called a "Planetary Pack."

Storyline

According to the storyline of the game, Earth has destroyed itself through war, disease, famine, and other catastrophes. The United Nations manages to launch a colonization starship, the Unity, to Alpha Centauri, where an Earth-like planet, Chiron (often just called "Planet"), has been discovered; it is hoped that the best and brightest of mankind aboard the Unity can build a perfect civilization there.

As the Unity approaches Alpha Centauri, a malfunction occurs, waking the top officers from suspended animation. During the crew's attempt to repair the damage, the commander, Captain Garland, is assassinated. Due to the critical damage of the Unity, the ship's seven top officers each, together with likeminded crewmembers, lay claim to an escape pod and land on Chiron. These seven, with their conflicting personalities and ideologies, then begin to build seven separate societies according to those ideologies - leading humanity once again to factionalism and war.

(Note: The game's intro video depicts an eighth escape pod separating from the Unity, only to explode shortly thereafter, though there is no mention of an eighth faction at any point in the game.)

Game play

Within the game, the player assumes the role of one of the seven faction leaders and attempts to expand their colony and achieve victory. Players engage themselves in a race against the other factions, and are free to adopt any number of strategies in pursuit of their goal. Scientific discoveries within the game determine what technologies are available to particular factions, which in turn determines what facilities and units they can build at their colony bases. Unlike the previous Civilization games and Civilization III, Alpha Centauri allows the player to fully customize units. Civilization IV expanded on this system.

Also, while not unique in this regard, Alpha Centauri is an unusual civilization-building game because it is open-ended and has multiple, customizable parameters for victory. The player can choose to work toward a victory based on diplomacy, economics, conquest, or transcendence.

The Datalinks

A crucial part of the game is the Datalinks, an information system that contains any and all information that you may need. It is similar to Civilization's Civilopedia. Most important is the tech tree, which shows a complete system of all technologies available in the game, along with prerequisite technologies and all benefits the technology gives (new chassis, weapon, armor, reactor, or special ability types, along with new former abilities, base facilities and secret projects, bonuses to xenofungus squares, social engineering choices, etc.) In all technology trades the game allows you to consult the Datalinks to find exactly what is being offered (or demanded).

In addition, the Datalinks store the quotes involved with all technologies, base facilities, and secret projects. Many Alpha Centauri fans enjoy the quotes in particular and the thought behind them. The game's creators did an excellent job of developing the personality and ideology of all the faction leaders through these quotes, as well as thoughts on human psychology. For instance, the Virtual World secret project is accompanied by Chairman Yang's view that reality is only what you perceive it to be, while Provost Zakarov denounces the general simplistic views on genetics when such technologies are discovered.

Terrain

The game is represented on a three-dimensional map of the planet surface, upon which bases are built and units deployed. Local features of the terrain influence the amount of resources a base harvests from any particular square. For example, rocky squares yield minerals but no food unless cleared, while river squares produce extra energy. The altitude of terrain influences how much energy can be harvested there, can create rain shadows downwind, etc. Terrain can be enhanced and altered (including raising and lowering altitude!) by units equipped with a terraformer module. The terrain also affects combat. For example, defending units receive a +50% bonus in rocky squares, while artillery units receive bonuses when attacking from higher elevation.

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