So, on to our first colony, with it's highly appropriate name.
Game: Alpha Centauri
Released: 1999
Played: 2001
Personal rating: Undisputed Classic
Ramblings spoiled for length.
For anyone who doesn't know, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (and it's equally excellent expansion, Alien Crossfire) are an offshoot of the Civilization series, fitting between II and III. They differ from other Civ games in being set on - you guessed it - Alpha Centauri in the near future rather than beginning on Earth in the distant past, and in having "factions" based on different ideologies rather than historical civilizations. Otherwise the overall gameplay is very similar.
The distinctive feature of Alpha Centauri is that, freed from historical constraints, the designers were able to indulge in story-telling and world building in a way that the mainstream Civ games just don't allow. And they did an excellent job. The way that the story unfolds throughout the game as you discover more about the nature of the planet you are colonising is fascinating. The names and descriptions of the technologies, buildings and wonders are exotic but make sense rather than coming across as technobabble. In particular, the "quotes" from the various faction leaders extend their in-game personalities in a fun way. The faction system really works, with distinct, thematic advantages and disadvantages making for both interesting gameplay choices and fun storytelling. SFDebris made rather a good video about this, which is linked from this RB thread.
This aspect of the game is pretty unique in the series. Firaxis have made civilizations more distinct as time goes on (back in Civ II they differed only in starting techs), and some leaders have quite distinct personalities (Monty, Cathy and Izzy from Civ IV stand out) but the official games have never again had as rich a blend of story, lore and gameplay. For that, you can look at a rather good dark fantasy mod of Civ IV, but that's a tale for another day.
This is the game that got me into Civ - the first step on the path to Realms Beyond. A housemate had a free CD with the 100-turn demo, which barely ran on my old 486. It still blew me away. I got a new job which came with a new computer for working from home which could actually run the full product, and it was my first game purchase in years. I still have warm memories of playing over and over. These are a bit fuzzy now but I do think I managed to beat this - once - on the highest difficulty. The game does have its quirks, flaws and balance issues (and obviously is not as graphically advanced as modern games). If you want to see someone who knows what they're doing completely break the AI into tiny pieces, T-Hawk, as so often, provides.
Game: Alpha Centauri
Released: 1999
Played: 2001
Personal rating: Undisputed Classic
Ramblings spoiled for length.
For anyone who doesn't know, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (and it's equally excellent expansion, Alien Crossfire) are an offshoot of the Civilization series, fitting between II and III. They differ from other Civ games in being set on - you guessed it - Alpha Centauri in the near future rather than beginning on Earth in the distant past, and in having "factions" based on different ideologies rather than historical civilizations. Otherwise the overall gameplay is very similar.
The distinctive feature of Alpha Centauri is that, freed from historical constraints, the designers were able to indulge in story-telling and world building in a way that the mainstream Civ games just don't allow. And they did an excellent job. The way that the story unfolds throughout the game as you discover more about the nature of the planet you are colonising is fascinating. The names and descriptions of the technologies, buildings and wonders are exotic but make sense rather than coming across as technobabble. In particular, the "quotes" from the various faction leaders extend their in-game personalities in a fun way. The faction system really works, with distinct, thematic advantages and disadvantages making for both interesting gameplay choices and fun storytelling. SFDebris made rather a good video about this, which is linked from this RB thread.
This aspect of the game is pretty unique in the series. Firaxis have made civilizations more distinct as time goes on (back in Civ II they differed only in starting techs), and some leaders have quite distinct personalities (Monty, Cathy and Izzy from Civ IV stand out) but the official games have never again had as rich a blend of story, lore and gameplay. For that, you can look at a rather good dark fantasy mod of Civ IV, but that's a tale for another day.
This is the game that got me into Civ - the first step on the path to Realms Beyond. A housemate had a free CD with the 100-turn demo, which barely ran on my old 486. It still blew me away. I got a new job which came with a new computer for working from home which could actually run the full product, and it was my first game purchase in years. I still have warm memories of playing over and over. These are a bit fuzzy now but I do think I managed to beat this - once - on the highest difficulty. The game does have its quirks, flaws and balance issues (and obviously is not as graphically advanced as modern games). If you want to see someone who knows what they're doing completely break the AI into tiny pieces, T-Hawk, as so often, provides.
It may have looked easy, but that is because it was done correctly - Brian Moore