Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
Overview
A turn-based computer strategy game created by Sid Meier and Brian Reynolds, Alpha Centauri is based on a hypothetical attempt by human beings to colonize a planet in the Alpha Centauri star system.
It picks up where the game Sid Meier's Civilization II left off. According to the storyline of the game, the captain of the colonists' starship (the Unity), Captain Garland, was assassinated shortly before arrival at the planet Chiron (often simply called Planet). As a consequence, the once-united colonists broke off into seven factions of varying ideologies to establish their respective colonies.
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 can build at their colony bases as well as what military units they can build. Confounding the competition among the human factions, it becomes quickly apparent that an indigenous semi-sentient fungus that spans the planet is also competing for resources. Also, while not unique in this regard, Alpha Centauri, is as an unusual civilization building game because it is open-ended and the parameters for victory can be set by the player; the player can choose to work toward a victory based on diplomacy, economics, conquest, or transcendence.
The Factions
The seven factions in the game are as follows:
- The Spartan Federation - True to their name, they place the highest priority on strength and combat readiness. They are commanded by Colonel Corazon Santiago.
- Gaia's Stepdaughters - Value living in ecological harmony with Planet, and abhor ecological destruction. Their leader is Lady Deirdre Skye.
- The University of Planet - Value knowledge and scientific advancement, although not necessarily ethically obtained. Led by Academician Prokhor Zakharov.
- The Peacekeeping Forces - Work hard to keep the peace through diplomacy and to maintain the United Nations charter. Led by Commissioner Pravin Lal.
- The Human Hive - Totalitarian police state. They are controlled by Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang.
- The Lord's Believers - Ultra-religious technophobes. Led by Sister Miriam Godwinson.
- Morgan Industries - Value material wealth. They are run by CEO Nwabudike Morgan.
Alien Crossfire
Alpha Centauri spawned one expansion pack called Alien Crossfire that features seven new factions (two of which are alien) and multiple new technologies. As well, the editable nature of the games configuration files allows for a large degree of customization and has led to the creation of a number of modpacks and custom factions which other users can download to expand their gameplay. Several sites have sprung up to support and distribute these files.
The main storyline element added to the game is the "alien crossfire" itself. The two alien Progenitor factions are locked in a civil war: one side, the Usurpers, wishes to exploit Manifold Six (the Progenitor name for Planet) for military purposes; the other side wishes to prevent this and leave the planet alone. Both factions sent ships to Manifold Six to settle the matter once and for all. Unfortunately for them (but probably fortunately for the human factions on Planet), the battle went badly for both sides and they ended up crash-landing on Planet. Their civil war continues, and both factions dream of the day that they can send for reinforcements and crush the other faction.
The Alien Crossfire Factions
The seven new factions are as follows:
- The Cult of Planet - Fanatical worshippers of Planet. Led by Prophet Cha'Dawn.
- The Cybernetic Consciousness - A race of cyborgs (in fact, "Cyborgs" is a common nickname for this faction) led by Prime Function Aki-Zeta 5.
- The Data Angels - Hackers and crackers, experts at espionage activity. Their leader is Datatech Sinder Roze.
- The Free Drones - An industrial, socialist-like civilization that promises to be heaven to all workers. Led by Foreman Domai.
- The Nautilus Pirates - A seafaring civilization. Led by Captain Ulrik Svensgaard.
- The Manifold Caretakers - An alien race. See notes under "Alien Crossfire". They are led by Guardian Lular H'minee.
- The Manifold Usurpers - An alien race. See notes under "Alien Crossfire". Their leader is Usurper Judaa Maar.
Victory Conditions
There are several victory methods available in Alpha Centauri.
- Military
- A military victory occurs when the player annihlates all non-allied factions.
- Economic
- When a player has enough energy reserves roughly equal to what it would take to mind-control capture all the remaining cities on planet, he can assert an economic victory and win the game.
- Diplomatic
- A player achieves diplomatic victory by uniting the Planetary council behind him. To do this, he must get a 75% vote (by population) at planetary coucil.
- Transcendence
- The transcendence victory is achieved by building the Ascent to Transcendence secret project. This concept of a post human era is very closely related to the idea of the technological singularity. After this project is built people leave their material bodies to merge with the emerged planet intelligence.
For Further Reading
For further reading, game story developer Michael Ely has written a trilogy of novels based on the game.
- Centauri Dawn - ISBN 0671040774
- Dragon Sun - ISBN 0671040782
- Twilight of the Mind - ISBN 0671040790
External Links
Referenced By
5th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards | Annual Interactive Achievement Awards | Gaian | Gaians | Interactive Achievement Awards | Technological Singularity | The Singularity
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