NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (sometimes abbreviated to SMAC or Alpha Centauri) is a 4X turn-based strategic 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 Meier and Reynolds' earlier title, Civilization II, left off. An expansion pack called Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire (aka SMACX or just SMAX) was also released. Although popular with gamers, the game never reached the heights of success of the Civilization games. Pre-patched versions of Alpha Centauri and Alien Crossfire were later bundled together in the Alpha Centauri Planetary Pack. The game has also been released under the Sold-Out Software label. SMAC may refer to: Sid Meiers Alpha Centauri Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission - art council in California, USA. Small ANSI C Interpreter Second mitochondria-derived activator of caspases, a component of the apoptosis pathway Simple media access controller, a code stack used for developing RF transceiver applications Category: ... Alpha Centauri box art This is the cover art for a video game. ... A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual) that creates video games. ... {{Infobox_Company | company_name = Firaxis Games | company_logo = | company_type = [[Subsidiary of Take2) | company_slogan = Games that stand the Test of Time | foundation = Hunt Valley, Maryland, United States (1996) | location = Hunt Valley, Maryland, United States | key_people = Sid Meier, Director of Creative DevelopmentJeff Briggs, former CEO| num_employees = several dozen | revenue = | industry = Video games | products = Sid Meier... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Aspyr is a company that specializes in porting Windows games to the Mac platform. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Electronic Arts (EA) (NASDAQ: ERTS) is an American developer, marketer, publisher, and distributor of computer and video games. ... Windows redirects here. ... Loki Games was a software firm that ported several computer games from Microsoft Windows to Linux. ... This article is about operating systems that use the Linux kernel. ... A game designer is a person who designs games. ... Brian Reynolds (born 1967) is a well known computer strategy game designer, formerly of MicroProse and Firaxis Games. ... Sidney K. Meier (born 1954 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American programmer and designer of some of the most commercially and critically successful computer strategy games of all time. ... William Bing Gordon is Chief Creative Officer for video game maker Electronic Arts. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1999 1999 in games 1998 in video gaming 2000 in video gaming Notable events of 1999 in video gaming. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... 2000 2000 in games 1999 in video gaming 2001 in video gaming Notable events of 2000 in video gaming. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... March 10 is the 69th day of the year (70th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... 2001 2001 in games 2000 in video gaming 2002 in video gaming Notable events of 2001 in video gaming. ... Video games are categorized into genres based on their gameplay. ... A turn-based game, also known as turn-based strategy, is a game where each participant plays in turn. ... Chess is one of the most well-known and played strategy games of all time. ... 4X refers to a genre of strategy game, usually a computer game, with four primary goals: eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and eXterminate. ... In computer games and video games, single-player refers to the variant of a particular game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. ... Online gaming redirects here. ... See also Ericsson IPX Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX) is the OSI-model Network layer protocol in the IPX/SPX protocol stack. ... The Internet protocol suite is the set of communications protocols that implement the protocol stack on which the Internet and most commercial networks run. ... A modem (from modulate and demodulate) is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. ... The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (or ELSPA) is an organisation set up in 1989 by British software publishers. ... The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is a self-regulatory organization that applies and enforces ratings, advertising guidelines, and online privacy principles for computer and video games and other entertainment software in the United States and Canada (officially adopted by individual provinces 2004-2005). ... This article is about operating systems that use the Linux kernel. ... DEC Alpha AXP 21064 Microprocessor die photo Package for DEC Alpha AXP 21064 Microprocessor Alpha AXP 21064 bare die mounted on a business card with some statistics The DEC Alpha, also known as the Alpha AXP, is a 64-bit RISC microprocessor originally developed and fabricated by Digital Equipment Corp... PowerPC is a RISC microprocessor architecture created by the 1991 Appleâ€“IBMâ€“Motorola alliance, known as AIM. Originally intended for personal computers, PowerPC CPUs have since become popular embedded and high-performance processors as well. ... x86 or 80x86 is the generic name of a microprocessor architecture first developed and manufactured by Intel. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Windows redirects here. ... A compact disc or CD is an optical disc used to store digital data, originally developed for storing digital audio. ... Pentium MMX - top view The Pentium is a fifth-generation x86 architecture microprocessor by Intel which first shipped on March 22, 1993. ... Die of an Intel 80486DX2 microprocessor (actual size: 12Ã—6. ... Random access memory (usually known by its acronym, RAM) is a type of data storage used in computers. ... Typical hard drives of the mid-1990s. ... It has been suggested that Keystroke be merged into this article or section. ... Operating a mechanical 1: Pulling the mouse turns the ball. ... 4X refers to a genre of strategy game, usually a computer game, with four primary goals: eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and eXterminate. ... The Battle for Wesnoth turn-based strategy, released under the GPL. A turn-based game, also known as turn-based strategy, is a game where the game flow is partitioned in well-defined and visible parts, called turns or rounds. ... Chess is one of the most well-known and played strategy games of all time. ... â€œComputer Gamesâ€ redirects here. ... Brian Reynolds (born 1967) is a well known computer strategy game designer, formerly of MicroProse and Firaxis Games. ... Sidney K. Meier (born 1954 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American programmer and designer of some of the most commercially and critically successful computer strategy games of all time. ... {{Infobox_Company | company_name = Firaxis Games | company_logo = | company_type = [[Subsidiary of Take2) | company_slogan = Games that stand the Test of Time | foundation = Hunt Valley, Maryland, United States (1996) | location = Hunt Valley, Maryland, United States | key_people = Sid Meier, Director of Creative DevelopmentJeff Briggs, former CEO| num_employees = several dozen | revenue = | industry = Video games | products = Sid Meier... 1999 1999 in games 1998 in video gaming 2000 in video gaming Notable events of 1999 in video gaming. ... Artists conception of a space habitat called the Stanford torus, by Don Davis Space colonization (also called space settlement, space humanization, space habitation, etc. ... Alpha Centauri (Î± Cen / Î± Centauri, also known as Rigil Kentaurus), is the brightest star system in the southern constellation of Centaurus. ... A star system or stellar system is a small number of stars that orbit each other,[1] bound by gravitational attraction. ... Sid Meiers Civilization II, a. ... Sid Meiers Alien Crossfire, published in September 1999, is an expansion pack for Sid Meiers Alpha Centauri, a turn-based strategic 4X computer game. ... Sold-Out Software is a British computer game publisher who become one of the most important in the budget price range since December 1997. ...

Storyline

According to the storyline of the game, Earth destroyed itself through war, famine and poverty, but before it destroys itself completely, the U.N. launches a colonization starship called "Unity". The Unity is destined for a planet in the Alpha Centauri system, thus the name of the game. This planet is very similar to Earth, and they hope that the people can establish a new colony on Alpha Centauri (generally just called "Planet" though the real name being "Chiron").

However, before the starship fully reaches Planet, 40 years into the journey, the Unity suffers a core malfunction and awakens many of the crew, who then proceed to fix the malfunction. Before they are done, however, the captain of Unity, Captain Garland, is assassinated by an unknown assailant. This causes the remainder of the crew to wake up.

When the assassination occurs, all of the crew panics. Seven leaders take up the challenge of leading a faction onto Planet by use of one of seven colony pods. Unity crashes onto Planet and the supplies spread everywhere. That is where the player comes in.

The game's intro video depicts an eighth escape pod separating from the Unity, only to explode shortly thereafter, which is evident as the origin of the Nautilus Pirates faction in the expansion pack, Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire.^{[verification needed]} Sid Meiers Alien Crossfire, published in September 1999, is an expansion pack for Sid Meiers Alpha Centauri, a turn-based strategic 4X computer 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 Civilization and Civilization III, Alpha Centauri allows the player to fully customize units. Download high resolution version (1020x762, 428 KB)Screenshot from Sid Meiers Alpha Centauri: Alien Crossfire showing diplomacy. ... Download high resolution version (1020x762, 428 KB)Screenshot from Sid Meiers Alpha Centauri: Alien Crossfire showing diplomacy. ... Sid Meiers Civilization is a turn based strategy computer game created by Sid Meier for MicroProse in 1991. ... Sid Meiers Civilization III is a turn-based strategy computer game by Firaxis Games, the sequel to Sid Meiers Civilization II. It was followed by Civilization IV. Also called Civ 3 or Civ III for short, the game is the third generation of the original Civilization. ...

Alpha Centauri 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

The Datalinks, similar to Civilization's Civilopedia, contain information crucial for playing the game. 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 terraformer 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 developed 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 one perceives it to be, while Provost Zakharov denounces the general simplistic views on genetics when such technologies are discovered.

Tying the imaginary technology of the Datalinks into real intellectual history are quotes from Plato, Machiavelli, Immanuel Kant, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Charles Dickens, Sir Thomas More, Albert Einstein, Saint Augustine, Aristotle, Friedrich Nietzsche, Sun Tzu, Lao Tzu, Herman Melville, Jules Verne, John Milton, and Konstantin Tsiolkovsky interspersed among those from the game's characters. ^[1] PLATO was one of the first generalized Computer assisted instruction systems, originally built by the University of Illinois (U of I) and later taken over by Control Data Corporation (CDC), who provided the machines it ran on. ... Detail of the portrait of Machiavelli, ca 1500, in the robes of a Florentine public official Niccolò Machiavelli (May 3, 1469—June 21, 1527) was an Italian political philosopher during the Renaissance. ... â€œKantâ€ redirects here. ... Samuel Taylor Coleridge (October 21, 1772 â€“ July 25, 1834) (pronounced ) was an English poet, critic, and philosopher who was, along with his friend William Wordsworth, one of the founders of the Romantic Movement in England and one of the Lake Poets. ... â€œDickensâ€ redirects here. ... Portrait of Sir Thomas More by Hans Holbein the Younger Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478–6 July 1535), posthumously known also as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, author, and politician. ... â€œEinsteinâ€ redirects here. ... St. ... Aristotle (Greek: AristotÃ©lÄ“s) (384 BC â€“ 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. ... Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (October 15, 1844 â€“ August 25, 1900) (IPA: ) was a 19th-century German philosopher. ... Sun Tzu (孫子 also commonly written in pinyin: Sūn Zǐ) was the author of The Art of War, an influential ancient Chinese book on military strategy (for the most part not dealing directly with tactics). ... Lao Zi (also spelled Laozi, Lao Tzu, or Lao Tse) was a famous Chinese philosopher who is believed to have lived in approximately the 4th century BC, during the Hundred Schools of Thought and Warring States Periods. ... Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 â€“ September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. ... Jules Gabriel Verne (February 8, 1828â€“March 24, 1905) was a French author who pioneered the science-fiction genre. ... For other persons named John Milton, see John Milton (disambiguation). ... Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky (ÐšÐ¾Ð½ÑÑ‚Ð°Ð½Ñ‚Ð¸Ð½ ÐÐ´ÑƒÐ°Ñ€Ð´Ð¾Ð²Ð¸Ñ‡ Ð¦Ð¸Ð¾Ð»ÐºÐ¾Ð²ÑÐºÐ¸Ð¹, Konstanty CioÅ‚kowski) (September 5, 1857 new style â€“ September 19, 1935) was a Russian and Soviet rocket scientist and pioneer of cosmonautics who spent most of his life in a log house on the outskirts of the Russian town of Kaluga. ...

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. For the television series see Rain Shadow. ... Artists conception of a terraformed Mars in four stages of development. ...

Units and combat

A unit is made up from different parts such as chassis, weapon, armor, reactor, and special ability slots. As new technologies become available, old designs may be brought up to date and existing units upgraded.

Generally, only friendly units (your own or those of an ally) can occupy the same square. Enemy units must be eliminated in order to move into their square. Combat is usually initiated when a unit belonging to one faction attempts to enter a square occupied by a unit/units of a hostile faction. Many factors affect the outcome of combat, including:

Researching certain new technologies unlocks progressively better equipment (weapons, armor and reactors). Possessing certain support infrastructure (such as Command Centers), creating units with certain special abilities (such as High Morale), and having a positive morale rating in social engineering will all confer morale bonuses to new units; conversely, a negative morale rating will incur morale penalties on new units. Also, gaining access to the mysterious alien monoliths that dot the planet or defeating enough enemies to gain experience will upgrade an existing unit's morale. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Native Life

Adding to the trouble of the human factions is an indigenous semi-sentient fungus (called xenofungus) that spans the planet. Concentrations of xenofungus can spawn more aggressive native life forms known as mind worms. Xenofungus acts as the planet's immune system, and will react against heavy industrial pollution by growing over terraformed sites and concentrating multiple hostile mind worm units against offending cities. Moreover, mind worms can be captured by factions with a deep understanding of Planet's fragile ecology and used as instruments of war and police.

In the course of the storyline, it is discovered that Planet's ecosystem is an increasingly sentient hive mind, which communicates with faction leaders in cut-scenes from time to time. However, contrary to the concept of a benevolent Mother Earth, the planetary mind is suspicious of humans and abhors their technological intrusion on its ecological balance, often using violence to try to destroy colonists that it perceives as a threat. Quotes by faction leaders scattered throughout the game reveal that all of them, with the notable exception of Lady Deirdre, consider the planetary mind to be untrustworthy, dangerous or even evil, although the Transcendence victory condition allows the player to unite human consciousness with Planet's mind, thus 'civilizing' it, achieving the next step in human evolution, and granting vast psionic powers to Transcended humans. A hive mind (sometimes spelled hivemind) is a form of collective consciousness strongly exhibiting traits of conformity and groupthink. ... Mother Earth is a common metaphorical expression for the Earth and its biosphere as the giver and sustainer of life. ... Parapsychology is the study of the evidence involving phenomena where a person seems to affect or gain information about something through a means not currently explainable within the framework of mainstream, conventional science. ...

Bases

Bases, like cities in the earlier Civilization games, are the center of the game. A base is essentially a self-contained city that can be built and captured, as well as destroyed (either intentionally through war casualties, starvation, abandonment by constructing a colonizer at base size 1, weapons of mass destruction, through unintentional ecological disruptions, being overrun by native mind worms or through ethnic cleansing (putting civilian populaces to death)). A base collects resources from the surrounding environment, using the manpower of the local population, or mechanically through resource crawler units. Mineral resources are used in building units and maintaining their upkeep, or can be converted to energy credits. Nutrient resources feed the local citizens, with more nutrients harvested leading to a higher rate of population growth. Energy collected from boreholes or solar collectors is piped into three priorities: PSYCH, ECONOMY and LABS. PSYCH represents how much energy is being used in improving the living standard of the inhabitants. ECONOMY represents how much energy is diverted into energy credits. LABS represents how much energy is being diverted into powering research. The output of all three can be enhanced by facilities or by special inhabitants called specialists. Energy credits created by the economy are the currency of the game. They can be used to hurry the production of new base facilities, units, secret projects, or they can be bartered in diplomatic encounters. Some covert missions or prototype construction also require energy credits. Depending on a faction's social policies and the individual base's distance from the capital, a portion of collected energy can be lost to inefficiency. Download high resolution version (1395x1428, 741 KB)Photo of CD for Sid Meiers Alpha Centauri computer game. ... Download high resolution version (1395x1428, 741 KB)Photo of CD for Sid Meiers Alpha Centauri computer game. ... Windows redirects here. ...

Citizens are the inhabitants of a base. One citizen represents 10,000 inhabitants. It takes one citizen to harvest the resources of one square. New citizens are produced when a base has accumulated a set quantity of excess nutrients. The amount of nutrients needed to create growth becomes higher as the population multiplies. Social engineering choices or facilities can help reduce this required amount during each stage of growth. There is a bug on base population: if the bases population reaches 127 (eg. 1,270,000) the next level (1,280,0000) rolls over to -128 as for some reason the base population size is stored in signed 8-bit value.

Bases build all of the faction's units, and by extension, new bases. A new base is created when a previous base builds a unit equipped with a colony pod module and the unit is deployed at the desired location. Building new units require a set amount of minerals, depending on how complex or advanced the unit is. Each turn, minerals processed by citizens are added to the current task until it is completed. This process can be hurried by spending energy credits. New technologies are researched in a similar manner. LABS output from every base is accumulated each turn until it fulfills the required cost to research the technology. All of these aspects can be enhanced by facilities and other factors.

A base can also build facilities and secret projects. Facilities, which are analogous to the buildings of the original Civilization games, create or alter some function of the base they are located in. Similarly, Secret Projects are comparable to the Great Wonders of the original Civilization. They are expensive and can only be built once, and only by one faction per game, but usually have dramatic benefits ranging from free facilities to social engineering effects and special unit abilities. For other uses, see Wonders of the World (disambiguation). ...

Diplomacy

When two factions have established contact, they can engage in a variety of diplomatic actions. New technology, energy credits and bases can be bargained for, given away or demanded with the threat of force. Factions can sign treaties and pacts, declare war or ask for a temporary cessation of hostilities. Treaties lead to commerce between faction bases and an increase in income for both factions. Pacts allow units to enter allied held territory and bases, and doubles the commerce modifier between the two factions. Computer controlled factions will remember past dealings, betrayals and atrocities, and will base their reactions (modified by the leader's personality) to the player's diplomatic overtures accordingly.

Once one human faction has made contact with all other human factions, it can choose to convene the Planetary Council and elect a Planetary Governor. Thereafter, factions can periodically convene the council (at most once every 20 years for each faction; the Planetary Governor only has to wait 10 years) to make proposals such as electing a new governor, salvaging the Unity fusion reactor core, lower or raise sea levels via satellite shades, eliminate the weapons of mass destruction ban, or creating a global trade pact. With the exception of the Planetary Governor or Supreme Leader elections, each faction has one vote, with the governor holding veto power. In Planetary Governor or Supreme Leader elections, each faction casts a number of votes based on its total population and modifiers from secret projects.

Society

Despite being set in the future, the problems of human society still plague the inhabitants of Chiron. Reflecting this are the existence of drones in the population. Drones represent the undereducated, discontent segments of society. When the number of drones overwhelm the number of well educated citizens, called Talents, a drone riot occurs. During a drone riot all productive activity within the base is suspended. If not stopped, prolonged drone riots will eventually escalate in severity until facilities are destroyed or, in extreme cases, the entire city defects to another faction.

Drone riots can be suppressed through the use of in base military units as police. The amount of suppression allowed depends on the degree of tolerance the society, under current social engineering models, has for policing. There also exists the temporary and more extreme solution of nerve stapling. This directly suppresses the violent tendencies of the population, preventing drone riots for a short period of time, but carrying it out is considered an atrocity and will negatively impact diplomatic interactions.

Social Engineering

Social engineering is another decisive game element reflecting human nature. Here, political, economic, social and future society models may be chosen. Each choice has its benefits and drawbacks. When combined, these models shape the faction's overall society. The aspects of social engineering affect a diverse range of gameplay elements, ranging from contentment and growth of the populace, unit morale and fighting strength, to the amount of energy credits received, among other things.

Social engineering plays an important role in game diplomacy with computer players. Players that presently utilize the social engineering preference of a particular faction may have improved diplomatic relations with that faction. However, if a player has made a different social engineering choice in whatever area of society (government, economy, values, or future society) that player's social choice lies, the diplomatic relations will become strained, sometimes leading to vendetta. For example, the Gaians may make the social choice of Green economics, which will lead to strained relations with the Morganites (who favor Free Market economics) but will make no difference with the Hive, even if the Hive is using Free Market or Planned economics, since the Hive's preference is that of a Police State government.

At the beginning of each game, each faction is designated a particular social engineering preference and a particular social engineering aversion. Computer players must use their social engineering preference as soon as it is available, while all players (regardless of whether they are human or computer) may not use their social engineering aversion. Normally, the preference and aversion reflect the apparent ideologies of the faction (i.e. the Gaians favor Green economics and abhor Free Market economics). However, the player has the option to randomize the social agendas of all computer players. If this option is selected, the social engineering aversion of the faction remains the same. Consequently, it is possible for any faction to have the same social engineering choice as a preference and an aversion. In such a case, the player will still support that particular social engineering choice in diplomatic relations but cannot use that particular choice.

Factions

The original seven factions in the game are as follows below (the Alien Crossfire expansion adds seven more):

Spartan Federation

True to their namesake, the militaristic Spartan faction places the highest priority on strength, discipline and combat readiness. Commanded by Colonel Corazón Santiago (Part of the Unity's security force, leader of the Spartan Coalition that first mutinies on the Unity), a survivalist from Puerto Rico, the Spartans make planetfall with the technology Doctrine: Mobility. Spartan units receive morale upgrades (making them better fighters) and their disciplined society is naturally tolerant of martial law, allowing two military units to help suppress a colony's drones. The Spartans' skilled military expertise allows them to build prototype units without extra mineral cost. However, the excessive labour devoted to military production imposes a 10% penalty to industrial production. The Spartans prefer the Power social engineering choice and may not pursue Wealth, all the while remaining wary of those who don't choose an emphasis on Power. Their founding base is Sparta Command. Social benefits (+2 morale, +1 police, -1 industry). Look up Spartan, spartan in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Militarism or militarist ideology is the doctrinal view of a society as being best served (or more efficient) when it is governed or guided by concepts embodied in the culture, doctrine, system, or people of the military. ... For other uses, see Survivalism (disambiguation). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Gaia's Stepdaughters

Named for James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis, the Gaians are a faction that values living in ecological harmony with Planet and abhors ecological destruction. They are led by Lady Deirdre Skye (Unity officer in charge of hydroponics) of Scotland. The Gaians make planetfall with the technology Centauri Ecology. The Gaians' ecological safeguards allow them to avoid ecological damage and to capture native mind worms, and their experience with lifecycles and recycling gives them an efficiency bonus. The Gaians also receive one extra nutrient from fungal squares and their infantry units can move through xenofungus with reduced movement penalties. The Gaians are pacifistic and freedom-loving, giving rise to their weaknesses: Low troop morale and a lower police rating which prevents nerve stapling. The Gaians prefer Green economics and may not use a Free Market system in social engineering, and look upon Planned economics as little better - which usually leads them to bitter hostilities with the Morganites and The Hive. Their founding base is Gaia's Landing. Social benefits (+2 efficiency, +1 planet, -1 morale. -1 police). James Lovelock in front of a statue of Gaia in 2000 Dr James Ephraim Lovelock, CH, CBE, FRS (born 26 July 1919) is an independent scientist, author, researcher, environmentalist, and futurologist who lives in Cornwall, in the south west of Great Britain. ... Italic textBold textLink titleLink title. ... For the psychology topic, see Environmental psychology. ... NASA researcher checking hydroponic onions with Bibb lettuce to his left and radishes to the right Example of Autotrophic Metabolism [1] Hydroponics is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions instead of soil. ... This article is about the country. ...

University of Planet

A technocratic faction that values knowledge and scientific advancement, although not necessarily ethically obtained. Led by Academician Prokhor Zakharov (possibly named in tribute to physicist/politician Andrei Sakharov; name was changed from Saratov early in development) of Russia, who was the chief science officer on Unity. The University makes planetfall with Information Networks, as well as another randomly selected technology. The brilliant researchers of the University allow them to discover new technologies 20% faster than normal, but the openness of their academic networks leaves them prone to infiltration from other factions' probe teams. Every University base comes equipped with a Network Node, which boosts research by another 50%. Due to the University's lack of ethics in regards to research and experimentation, an additional one in every four citizens is a drone. The University prefers the Knowledge value in social engineering and may not use a Fundamentalist government. Their founding base is University Base. Social benefits (+2 research, -2 probe). Technocrat can refer to: An individual who makes decisions based solely on technical information and not personal or public opinion. ... Andrei Sakharov, 1943 For the historian, see Andrey Nikolayevich Sakharov. ...

Peacekeeping Forces

This faction works hard to keep the peace through diplomacy and to maintain the United Nations charter. Led by Commissioner Pravin Lal (Unity's surgeon) of India, the Peacekeepers make planetfall with the technology Biogenetics. The United Nations style bureaucracy of the Peacekeepers causes them to lose efficiency. The Peacekeepers do attract intellectual elites, causing every fourth citizen to be a talent. The Peacekeeper colonies may grow two sizes beyond normal population restrictions. In votes for Planetary Governor and Supreme Leader, the Peacekeeper's votes are double its population. The Peacekeepers favor democratic politics and may not use a police state government in social engineering, neither are they keen on religious dogma. As a result, they tend to be more or less constantly at war with the Hive and the Believers, who favor these forms of government. Their founding base is United Nations Headquarters. Social benefits (-1 efficiency). A peacekeeper can be a person involved in peacekeeping. ... Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence as a means of settling disputes or gaining advantage. ... The foundation of the U.N. The United Nations (UN) is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate co-operation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress and human rights issues. ...

Human Hive

A totalitarian faction based on Collectivist principles. They are controlled by Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang (former executive officer on Unity) of Great China. The Hive makes planetfall with the technology Doctrine: Loyalty. The Hive has its growth rate boosted by 10% and its brutal serfdom decreases the mineral cost of units and facilities by 10%, however the lack of political freedom causes each colony to generate one less unit of energy per turn. In the pre-release version of the game, the Hive's belief in the greater good greatly raised the morale of Yang's army; however, this is not present in the final version of SMAC or the SMAX expansion pack. The Hive has an immunity to inefficiency caused by social engineering choices, namely Police State and Planned Economy; this greatly bolsters the Police State government used by Yang, as it removes all negative side effects. The Hive favors the Police State government, may not use a Democratic government, and is wary of religious hyperbole. This ultimately leads the Hive into conflict with the Peacekeeper and Believer factions. Social benefits (+1 growth, +1 industry, -2 economy). Collectivism, in general, is a term used to describe a theoretical or practical emphasis on the group, as opposed to (and seen by many of its opponents to be at the expense of) the individual. ... For the Chinese civilization, see China. ...

During development, this faction was named "The Labyrinth" and had a stronger science inclination, before being changed to "The Hive" in the final release. Their founding base, fittingly, is The Hive.

Lord's Believers

A fundamentalist faction wary of secular technology. Led by Sister Miriam Godwinson (Unity's chaplain) from the United States of America (stated in-game as the Christian States of America). The Believers make planet fall with the technology Social Psych. The Believers' convictions give them a 25% attack bonus as well as increasing the morale of their Probe Teams and increasing the cost of their enemies' probe attacks. Their eagerness to defend their faith allows each colony to support up to four units without a cost of minerals. Because the Believers feel that Chiron is their promised land, ecological tensions are increased and production of resources in fungal squares is decreased. The Believers are also skeptical of secular technology, thus their research rate is decreased by 20% and they may not accumulate any research points in the first ten years on Chiron. The Believers prefer Fundamentalist government and may not use Knowledge as a social engineering choice, and for reasons best known to themselves become very upset with neighboring Democratic & Police states. While the game was being coded, this faction was named "The Conclave" before being changed to "The Believers" in the final release. Their founding base is named New Jerusalem. The AI behavior of the Believers tend towards aggression and forceful actions to get what they want. Because they cannot gain technology at the rate most of the other factions, the Believers prefer to deploy large numbers of technologically inferior troops, overwhelming their foes by force of numbers. The faction they are most likely to declare war on is the University, as they have near opposite views. Social benefits (+2 support, +1 probe, -2 research, -1 planet). Fundamentalism is a movement to maintain strict adherence to founding principles. ...

Morgan Industries

A corporate capitalistic faction, led by self-made mogul and diamond tycoon Nwabudike Morgan (whose company funded the Unity mission, and had a secret sleeping pod installed on the ship for him) of Namibia. The Morganites make planetfall with the technology Industrial Base and an additional 100 energy credits. Because they are an industrial conglomerate, and thus skilled in matters of economy and production, they receive an energy bonus in social engineering - an extra unit of energy in each colony, and one energy per square and even larger bonuses if this is combined with social engineering values such as Free Market or Wealth. However, because of the expensive tastes of its followers and the demand for creature comforts, Morganite units have high mineral maintenance costs and colonies cannot exceed population size four until the Hab Complex Facility is built (the default is seven). The Morganites receive extra energy from commerce due to their marketing and trade expertise. They prefer Free Market economics and may not choose a Planned economy in social engineering, and find that Green economics 'hinder the just and proper flow of capital'. Their founding base is Morgan Industries. Social benefits (+1 economy, -1 support). Capitalism generally refers to in philosophy and politics, a social system based on the principle of individual rights, including property rights. ...

While the Morganites prefer the Free Market social engineering-choice, they cannot be said to be a wholly "free-market" oriented faction, which the portrayed attitude of N. Morgan though the game, particularly at the end, also shows.

Morganites can easily make astronomical profits with the right social engineering, but cannot effectively maintain a large army. A common strategy is to use waves of probe teams to subvert (i.e., bribe) enemy units, putting their funds to good use.

Victory conditions

When plotted on a logarithmic graph, 15 separate lists of paradigm shifts for key events in human history show an exponential trend. ...

Inspirations

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. It also is a homage to James P. Hogan's 1982 space opera novel Voyage from Yesteryear, where a human colony is artificially created at Alpha Centauri by automatic probe on a planet later named by colonists as Chiron. Chiron in the game 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. Chiron and Achilles In Greek mythology, Chiron (hand) â€” sometimes transliterated Cheiron or rarely Kiron â€” was held as the superlative centaur among his brethren. ... In Greek mythology, the Centaurs (Greek: ÎšÎÎ½Ï„Î±Ï…ÏÎ¿Î¹) are a race of creatures composed of part human and part horse. ... The name James P. Hogan might refer to: The science fiction writer The film maker This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Classic pulp space opera cover, with the usual clichÃ© elements. ... Voyage from Yesteryear is a 1982 science fiction novel by the author James P. Hogan. ... Guido Reni, Abduction of Deianira, 1620-21, Louvre Museum. ... Heracles and Pholus, black-figured hydria, 520â€“510 BC, Louvre (MNE 940) In Greek mythology, Pholus was a wise centaur and friend of Herakles who lived in a cave on or near Mount Pelion. ... This article is about Earths moon. ... This article is about the planet. ... In Greek mythology, Eurytion referred to three different people. ... Hercules and the Nemean Lion (detail), silver plate, 6th century BC (Cabinet des MÃ©dailles, Paris). ...

The native life and singular planet mind of the game draws heavily from Frank Herbert's novel The Jesus Incident and Isaac Asimov's novel Nemesis. The concept of presenting quotes with every achievement also comes from The Jesus Incident. Vernor Vinge's concept of technological singularity is the origin of the Transcendence concept. Frank Patrick Herbert (October 8, 1920 â€“ February 11, 1986) was a critically acclaimed and commercially successful American science fiction author. ... The Jesus Incident is a science fiction novel written by Frank Herbert and Bill Ransom, and was first released in 1979. ... Isaac Asimov (January 2?, 1920?[1] â€“ April 6, 1992), IPA: , originally Ð˜ÑÐ°Ð°Ðº ÐžÐ·Ð¸Ð¼Ð¾Ð² but now transcribed into Russian as ÐÐ¹Ð·ÐµÐº ÐÐ·Ð¸Ð¼Ð¾Ð²) was a Russian-born American Jewish author and professor of biochemistry, a highly successful and exceptionally prolific writer best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. ... Nemesis is a science fiction novel by Isaac Asimov. ... Vernor Steffen Vinge (IPA: ) (born February 10, 1944) is a mathematician, computer scientist and science fiction author who is best known for his Hugo award-winning novels A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky, as well as for his 1993 essay The Technological Singularity, in which...

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. Robert Anson Heinlein (July 7, 1907 â€“ May 8, 1988) was one of the most popular, influential, and controversial authors of hard science fiction. ... Zork universe Zork games Zork Anthology Zork trilogy Zork I Zork II Zork III Beyond Zork Zork Zero Enchanter trilogy Enchanter Sorcerer Spellbreaker Other games Wishbringer Return to Zork Zork: Nemesis Zork Grand Inquisitor Zork: The Undiscovered Underground Topics in Zork Encyclopedia Frobozzica Characters Kings Creatures Timeline Magic Calendar Zorkmid... Zork I is one of the first interactive fiction games, as well as being one of the first commercially sold. ... Planetfall is a 1983 science fiction text adventure by Steve Meretzky of Infocom. ...

Many of the cutscenes in the game were taken directly from the 1992 experimental documentary Baraka. Baraka (1992) is an experimental documentary film directed by Ron Fricke, cinematographer for Koyaanisqatsi, the first of the Qatsi films by Godfrey Reggio. ...

Influence

While not being a direct sequel of Civilization II, Alpha Centauri was considered a spiritual successor of that much-acclaimed game, because it had the same general principles and was made by many of the original developers. At the time, the future of the Civilization franchise was in dispute since Sid Meier and Brian Reynolds had left Microprose to found Firaxis. Unable to make Civilization III, the two made Alpha Centauri instead, beginning the game where the storyline had left off in Civilization, with mankind leaving Earth to travel to Alpha Centauri. Alpha Centauri was also built on the Civilization II engine modified for voxel graphics. Sid Meiers Civilization II, a. ... MicroProse Software, Inc. ... Firaxis Games is a computer game developer. ... A voxel (a portmanteau of the words volumetric and pixel) is a volume element, representing a value on a regular grid in three dimensional space. ...

The magazine PC Gamer US awarded Alpha Centauri a score of 98%, which was the highest score ever given by that magazine — Civilization II being the previous holder of this record with 97%. In 2004, PC Gamer gave Half-Life 2 a score of 98%, making it tied with Alpha Centauri. The magazine also gave Alpha Centauri Editor's choice and Turn-based strategy game of the year awards in 1999. PC Gamer is a computer games magazine, founded in 1993. ... Half-Life 2 (HL2) is a science fiction first-person shooter computer game that is the sequel to Half-Life. ...

Alpha Centauri has also won several Game of the Year awards, including those from The Denver Post and Toronto Sun. It won Turn-based Strategy Game of the year award from GameSpot as well. The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences named Alpha Centauri best strategy game of the year. In 2000 Alpha Centauri won the Origins Award for Best Strategy Computer Game of 1999. The Denver Post is a daily newspaper and online website published in Denver, Colorado. ... The Toronto Sun is an English language daily newspaper published in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ... GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. ... The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) is a non-profit organization that promotes entertainment software, such as video and computer games, with its Interactive Achievement Awards ceremony held annually since 1998. ... The Origins Awards, presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design, are presented at the Origins International Game Expo for outstanding work in the game industry. ...

In the community of Civilization players, many quotations from Alpha Centauri, which are shown at different points in the gameplay, are also quite popular.

The game has also sparked a trilogy of novels (see below) and a strategy guide by Chris Hartpence ("Velociryx"), which was later printed and published. Steve Jackson Games also published GURPS Alpha Centauri, a sourcebook for the GURPS role-playing game set in the Alpha Centauri universe. Steve Jackson Games (SJG) is a game company that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games. ... The Generic Universal RolePlaying System, commonly known as GURPS, is a role-playing game system designed to adapt to any imaginary gaming environment. ... This article is about games in which one plays the role of a character. ...

Technology

Alpha Centauri employs (isometric) 3-D rendering for both the terrain and units. This is made possible by the "Caviar" voxel library by AnimaTek International (now Digital Element), which renders the voxel models and terrain geometry using self-modifying assembly language routines. Look up isometric in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... 3D computer graphics are different from 2D computer graphics in that a three-dimensional representation of geometric data is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A voxel (a portmanteau of the words volumetric and pixel) is a volume element, representing a value on a regular grid in three dimensional space. ... See the terminology section, below, regarding inconsistent use of the terms assembly and assembler. ...

Fiction

The original story of the journey and splintering of the colonization space ship from Earth to Alpha Centauri was detailed in multiple installments that were released periodically by Michael Ely of Firaxis on the web, immediately prior to the release of the game, for marketing purposes. During the course of the installments, the names of regular forum members on the official Firaxis forums were incorporated into the story in cameos. The resulting short story Journey to Centauri can be downloaded from the official website [1]. A second short story, Arrival, introducing the Alien Crossfire factions, is also downloadable from that site. This article is in need of attention. ...

For further reading, game story developer Michael Ely has also written a trilogy of novels based on the game. Each of these novels is loosely based on one of the three "Faction vs. Faction" scenarios included with the game: Peacekeepers vs. Spartans, Gaians vs. Morganites, and Believers vs. University, respectively. Michael Ely is the writer of the trilogy of books surrounding the events in Sid Meiers Alpha Centauri Categories: Stub ...

There is also a graphic novel Alpha Centauri: Power of the Mindworms written by Steve Darnell and illustrated by Rafael Kayanan. Centauri Dawn is the first book in the trilogy novelization of the popular computer game Sid Meiers Alpha Centauri. ... Dragon Sun continues the story of the Unity survivors on an alien world. ... Twilight of the Mind Twilight of the Mind is the third and final novel in Michael Elys Alpha Centauri trilogy. ... Rafael Kayanan (born September 13, 1962, Manila) is a Filipino-born naturalised American artist of comic books. ...

Contents

Storyline

Game play

The Datalinks

Terrain

Units and combat

Native Life

Bases

Diplomacy

Society

Social Engineering

Factions

Spartan Federation

Gaia's Stepdaughters

University of Planet

Peacekeeping Forces

Human Hive

Lord's Believers

Morgan Industries

Victory conditions

Inspirations

Influence

Technology

Fiction

See also

Notes

References

External links

Contents

Storyline var ACE_AR = {Site: '756743', Size: '300250'};

Game play

The Datalinks

Terrain

Units and combat

Native Life

Bases

Diplomacy

Society

Social Engineering

Factions

Spartan Federation

Gaia's Stepdaughters

University of Planet

Peacekeeping Forces

Human Hive

Lord's Believers

Morgan Industries

Victory conditions

Inspirations

Influence

Technology

Fiction

See also

Notes

References

External links

Storyline