By Jim Rossignol on August 10th, 2011 at 3:27 pm.
The unblinking info-gaze of Eurogamer’s news sentinel has detected NeoGAF discoveries that indicate Alpha Centauri has been trademarked in Europe and the US. One trademark for computer games and one for online gaming. This can only mean one thing: a new FPS is on the way! Ha. My little joke there. Sorry.
Read Lewie’s retrospective for a reminder of why Alpha Centauri is such an important strategy title. We pray that this one is an appropriate remake.
10/08/2011 at 15:28 aircool says:
AC = Best ever Civ.
10/08/2011 at 15:32 Nalano says:
Yes.
Tho god knows what kind of game it’ll be, or whether it’ll have anything to do with the license we hope it’s related to. After all, SMAC was only named after the actual star.
10/08/2011 at 15:34 Alexander Norris says:
Civ is rubbish because of the anachronistic pseudo-civilisations that float around with no historical context.
Alpha Centauri is the best because of the varied, interesting factions with their own intelligent ethics and motivations.
Yay.
10/08/2011 at 15:36 Gassalasca says:
Yes.
10/08/2011 at 15:37 Snargelfargen says:
I got Civ IV from a steam sale, but it just didn’t compare to Alpha Centauri.
I hope this happens.
10/08/2011 at 15:40 CMaster says:
The fact that the world was a real and living part of the game, along with the fantastic quotes and wonder videos made it for me. Every Civ since has gone backwards in terms of having rigidly defined terrain types as opposed to the real, 3d world (with climate!) of SMAC.
It’s probably just as well Firaxis won’t be making this, as they’re owned by 2K, and everyone at 2K knows that nobody wants a strategy game these days.
10/08/2011 at 15:41 Nalano says:
In before the inevitable “and then they dumbed it down,” followed by the usual string of curses reserved for EA.
10/08/2011 at 15:55 IDtenT says:
SMAC is the closest PC gaming has ever come to hard sci-fi.
More importantly, the game had a heart and soul. The quotes were beyond brilliant (I still remember some of them today). The technologies are enough to give any hard sci-fi fan orgasms. The factions were designed insanely intelligently (Miriam for instance was not a Luddite as you might expect, upon closer inspection). Few games have ever had so much personality of the creators embedded in it.
The game was pure genius. All I’d want is to have it ported to a newer engine. Keep the rest of it. It already has personality. Someone who is trying to copy it will only end up ruining it.
16/11/2012 at 04:28 bernlin2000 says:
Playing it as a kid 12 or so years ago, it really was an almost spiritual experience. The videos and dialogue really threw you into the game: it was more an experience than entertainment. And of course it had the usual Civ addictiveness…it was almost too much goodness in one package (much like myself).
10/08/2011 at 16:05 HeavyStorm says:
Seconded. Best ever.
10/08/2011 at 16:21 Sheng-ji says:
I agree 100%
10/08/2011 at 16:30 WPUN says:
ME WANT!
Also, I’m really tired of hacking ole SMAC to work on my family’s computers.
10/08/2011 at 17:12 Spider Jerusalem says:
Yes, yes, a thousand times: yes!
10/08/2011 at 17:26 karry says:
“I got Civ IV from a steam sale, but it just didn’t compare to Alpha Centauri.”
In most respects. However, to be fair, Civ4 was the first Civ where borders actually worked as they should. That always bothered me immensely in AC, that even the smallest wanker faction felt bold enough to cross MY borders whenever they felt like it.
“The technologies are enough to give any hard sci-fi fan orgasms.”
Uh, no, they really werent. Most of them didnt have anything that i would call sensible futuristic application.
10/08/2011 at 18:13 IDtenT says:
Sensible is a bit subjective, but even if it weren’t, remember that the research was mostly random (as it would be in the real world) with focus (finance) thrown in a certain direction. All technologies need not be the next big thing.
10/08/2011 at 18:15 Nalano says:
I now want to have an in-depth discussion about which techs in the SMAC tech tree weren’t sensible.
10/08/2011 at 20:19 LionsPhil says:
Yeah, I prefer Civ IV for borders, presentation (well, duh, it was lush as all hell and had the march of technological progress on its side), and interface (little things like being able to go back to a unit you told to skip turn and change your mind up until you ended the turn, rather than this immediately throwing away its moves). To some extent AI interaction, too, although SMAC already has qute a few of Civ IV’s smarts there—stuff like favoured civics (and civics at all) originating in it.
But SMAC is king of terrain, and while the grounded world of Civ is easier to get into through intuition (“bronze working” will give me pointy things for the military; “monopole magnets” will give me…uh…hang on, consulting datalinks), the factions were really well done in their ideology, and mmmmmostly stuck to it in game when the AI wasn’t deciding to go into its stupid TIME FOR WAR, LAL NUKES YOU mode.
So marry those two games smartly and you’ve got a winner.
One of my favourite touches is that the despotic Hive is actually an attempt at a transcendent community “manually”, before the tech exists for that “best”, enlightened ending.
10/08/2011 at 20:47 Nalano says:
Maybe I just like my high-speed rail too much, but I didn’t need crib notes for monopole magnets. :P
And Shenji Yang was a beast.
10/08/2011 at 22:05 Kamos says:
A bit off topic by now, perhaps, but was Alien Legacy hard sci-fi? Actually, is there anybody out there who has even played Alien Legacy…?
Also, AC is now a scripted, cover based FPS “because of the times”.
11/08/2011 at 01:06 InternetBatman says:
I think Universe Sandbox is harder scifi.
11/08/2011 at 02:21 Kamos says:
Isn’t that a simulator? It’s not fiction. So, it is hard non-fiction. Which is starting to sound strange.
11/08/2011 at 07:31 Ricotta says:
O….M…G…. I bust this game out every month to play a quick game. Can’t wait!
11/08/2011 at 10:16 ZephyrSB says:
I haven’t really enjoyed a civ game post-AC, except for that straight up remake of Col. To be honest, I hope this is simply going to get the same kind of workover – much like Col, AC was already perfect.
11/08/2011 at 20:21 Foosnark says:
Yeeees. Greatest Civ ever.
10/08/2011 at 15:29 Lewie Procter says:
Oh man, I left those bases on Stockpile Energy for four months. I must be rich by now.
10/08/2011 at 15:38 CMaster says:
Looks like you’d have been better spending it on formers to me. Savy industries isn’t making much of anything without some improvements.
10/08/2011 at 16:09 HeavyStorm says:
Economy speculation is devastating this world. So probably yours is deep in financial chaos by now. Should have invested in industry.
10/08/2011 at 16:18 Plankton says:
Buy the global energy market!
10/08/2011 at 21:15 LionsPhil says:
Making money in a Civ game just encourages the AI to come along and demand tribute.
In their mind, they are certain that their hundred Scout Rovers are a mightier fighting force than your handful of ECM Neutronium Sentinels and couple of Tachyon Gravships, and industrial base to churn out more of those every turn.
10/08/2011 at 15:30 Nemon says:
Yes, please. Sorry… I should refrain from posting short comments when the halls of rps makes room for lengthy comments. I never played the original Alpha Centauri, although I often found myself wondering how my game-winning-space-travellers from old Civ’s would go on living while my Earth(c) became cluttered with granaries, libraries and solar plants.
10/08/2011 at 15:39 DrGonzo says:
They will go on to separate and make war for no reason. It annoyed me that they were violent at all considering they left my completely peaceful civilisation that would never hurt a fly.
10/08/2011 at 15:44 Bob_Bobson says:
Nemon, you can buy Alpha Centauri from GOG and see what happens to your colonists. Even if there is a new Alpha Centauri incoming I’d recommend people that like Civ and have never played AC give the original a go.
16/11/2012 at 04:31 bernlin2000 says:
I know this comment is a year old, but if you haven’t played it STILL, then you need to go on Good Old Games and download it NOW. It’s the best Civ game for sure, and that’s coming from someone whose played Civ III and Civ IV (especially this) absolutely to death. It’s only because of its age (and thus possible compatibility issues) and the fact that I lost my CD that I even touched the other two Civs. Buy NAWR
10/08/2011 at 15:30 skurmedel says:
Hubba hubba.
10/08/2011 at 15:32 BooleanBob says:
Man, what kind of sicko would play as Evil Corporate Guy?
10/08/2011 at 17:41 meatshit says:
Zakharov was by far the best:
“Man’s unfailing capacity to believe what he prefers to be true rather than what the evidence shows to be likely and possible has always astounded me. We long for a caring Universe which will save us from our childish mistakes, and in the face of mountains of evidence to the contrary we will pin all our hopes on the slimmest of doubts. God has not been proven not to exist, therefore he must exist.”
10/08/2011 at 19:01 BooleanBob says:
Yeah, I pretty much expected all RPS-reading types to be firmly committed collegiates or eco-warriors (free mind worms are killer early game units).
I guess Lewie is just that much more ruthless than the rest of us, as his career-forging, bargain-sniffing nous perhaps shows.
10/08/2011 at 19:07 Unaco says:
Long before the emergence of the Hivemind, I was learning to overcome the crass demands of the flesh, and embracing the Hive. Chairman Sheng-ji Yang all the way.
10/08/2011 at 20:24 LionsPhil says:
Santiago. PEACE THROUGH POWER!
Also roleplay-accurate Lal. PEACE THROUGH SANCTIONS AND MEASURED DISPLAY OF MINIMAL FORCE!
10/08/2011 at 20:49 Nalano says:
I’m a Yang-ite, myself, tho I do enjoy Zakharov.
10/08/2011 at 21:32 Blackseraph says:
I am always Gaia’s stepdaughters.
I mean come on we have direct conversations with the planet, clearly we are the chosen ones!
Mind worms are just a bonus.
16/11/2012 at 04:33 bernlin2000 says:
Yeah…the mindworms rule: Gaia 4ever
10/08/2011 at 21:58 IDtenT says:
I always enjoyed playing Morgan, even though I’m a Marxist; clearly I am conflicted. Lal was also always great fun, although in my experienced too easy in terms of diplomatic victory.
11/08/2011 at 10:21 ZephyrSB says:
While everyone else hacks their way through a planet filled with fungus and mind worms, my Gaia’s Stepdaughters always danced around so freely. And that fungus is hella productive if you know what you’re doing with it.
11/08/2011 at 14:25 Unaco says:
Pah! Going the Greens was Cheating!!!
10/08/2011 at 15:34 jerkstoresup says:
I hope they don’t pull an X-Com.
10/08/2011 at 15:49 Bhazor says:
I hope they don’t pull a Furious Four.
10/08/2011 at 15:52 Strategos says:
Isn’t it common knowledge that an FPS is exactly what Firaxis wanted to make back in the day, but couldn’t because shooters were only invented in 2004 when Half-Life 2 came out? If you think about it this way, an FPS would be far more faithful to the idea of Alpha Centauri, the spirit of it, than an unimaginative TBS successor.
10/08/2011 at 17:01 Nyst says:
There is no way, no way, no snowball’s chance in hell’s way that EA is going to make it a proper game.
Even if they don’t deliberatly run it down by making it overly simple, facebooky, microtransaction broken-on-launch drm dlc -iffic, even if they actually do their very best work, the most we can hope for is a mediocre to semi-decent game. I’d buy it if it turns out that way, but right now I’m not even sure it’s not going to turn out a shooter or god knows what else. It turning out to be a turn-based strategy game would be a small miracle in itself.
10/08/2011 at 20:45 PleasingFungus says:
@Strategos: Heh.
10/08/2011 at 15:35 spindaden says:
EA? hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…
Unlikely to have any Sid, Brian or anyone else who worked on the original involved then.
10/08/2011 at 15:35 Drinking with Skeletons says:
The best case scenario here will be a real time strategy. Unless Firaxis has been using its profits from the Civ V DLC to license the rights to a new game from EA, kind of how Telltale licensed Monkey Island.
Oh wait, that’s optimism! What have I done! NOOOOO
10/08/2011 at 15:36 Tyrmot says:
BEST NEWS EVER
10/08/2011 at 15:36 Icarus says:
Facebook spam-friends-to-win game incoming.
10/08/2011 at 15:41 Khann says:
Yep, this was my immediate thought.
10/08/2011 at 16:02 Giaddon says:
Mine also!
10/08/2011 at 16:03 Torgen says:
As soon as I saw the separate “online gaming” treademark, I also immediately thought “Facebook.”
10/08/2011 at 16:19 Ignorant Texan says:
While nerve-stapling Facebook ‘friends’ does have a certain appeal, I believe that it is as likely to be an Origin-based f2p with micro-transactions, like MicroSoft has done with AoE and GFWL.
10/08/2011 at 16:27 Nalano says:
“While nerve-stapling Facebook ‘friends’ does have a certain appeal”
I didn’t get beyond this. I think this won the thread.
10/08/2011 at 16:45 shoptroll says:
Yup. My thoughts exactly.
Some mucky muck at EA probably saw CivWorld / AoE Online and said “hey, why don’t we have this?”
Apparently, going on the “offensive” means making as many “me too” products as you can. Seriously, is there any product that EA isn’t trying to compete with?
10/08/2011 at 17:09 BurningPet says:
Pretty much this. since its brain raynolds baby, i hope they ruin it the facebook/zynga (karma is a bitch) way so hard that brian himself would enrage to create a true proper sequel.
10/08/2011 at 18:11 Nalano says:
“So angry… HULK! PROGRAM!”
10/08/2011 at 23:12 Daiv says:
@Nalano: HULK CODE PUNY ALGORITHM!
10/08/2011 at 15:38 Alphabet says:
EXPLODES
10/08/2011 at 15:38 arienette says:
Please don’t go, the drones need you.
10/08/2011 at 15:39 f4stjack says:
Dammit I was just about to write that…
And of course you forgot: “… they look up to you.”
10/08/2011 at 15:45 Bob_Bobson says:
For the longest time that line was my ‘puters logoff sound.
10/08/2011 at 15:38 Moni says:
EA doing a turn-based strategy seems unlikely, but some kind of online, possibly Facebook powered, casual turn-based strategy seems a good bet.
Hmm, a Popcap designed Civ game?
10/08/2011 at 15:39 Wizardry says:
I hope they don’t pull a Fallout 3.
10/08/2011 at 15:43 CMaster says:
So make it into a 3D RTS, I guess would be the equivalent. I could see that working in a lot of ways, just like FO3 did.
10/08/2011 at 15:46 Wizardry says:
Your trolling attempts won’t work on me!
10/08/2011 at 16:07 The Sentinel says:
Fallout 3 was GREAT. Allpha Centauri remake wishes it could be that good.
10/08/2011 at 16:28 Nalano says:
Oh god, if ever there was a company that could conceivably mess this up worse than EA, Bethesda would be it.
10/08/2011 at 16:44 reticulate says:
@Wizardry:
Look, I get you don’t like Fallout 3. You’ve mentioned it quite a few times. That’s cool, millions disagree, franchise reborn, the originals still exist, etc.
But at least, the very least, try and make your comparison the slightest bit relevant.
Try for a “I hope they don’t pull an Empire Total War”, perhaps? Or even a “I hope they don’t pull a Civ V” depending on how that game offended you? You’ve got choices here. It doesn’t have to be the oft-repeated posterchild for Rebooted CRPG Killed My Family this time.
Otherwise, and I’m being entirely subjective here, you look like a bit of a tool.
10/08/2011 at 17:06 Wizardry says:
@reticulate: What does Empire: Total War and Civilization V have to do with realtimeifying Alpha Centuari?
10/08/2011 at 17:12 Nalano says:
Because Civ5 is in the same genre and is seen as a dumbing down of Civ4.
Hence, it would make a better analogy.
For “turning this into an entirely new genre with an old IP,” you might want to try, “God, I hope they don’t pull an X-Com.”
10/08/2011 at 17:15 Spider Jerusalem says:
I think the shittiness of FO3 gets the point across just fine.
10/08/2011 at 17:16 Zelius says:
Wizardry, you’re calling CMaster a troll? After saying “I hope they don’t pull a Fallout 3″? I would consider that statement much more troll-worthy.
10/08/2011 at 17:37 Jeremy says:
Trolls be trollin.
10/08/2011 at 17:40 CMaster says:
I think what Wizardy’s initial statement was quite reasonable. He personally would not like to see what was done to Fallout between FO1/2 and 3 (update the game to a much more expensive style that is only really possible with modern technology, keeping some of the original gameplay elements, discarding others and shoehorning others badly in). I said that I felt such a thing might not be a total disaster – I can see some sense in real timing the game up, in giving it a much more modern graphics system.
Obviously, part of this comes from the fact that Wizardy didn’t like FO3, whereas I (sort of) did. (although with FO:NV now existing, I sort of which FO3 could just be purged from the series).
I would say I wasn’t trying to troll – if I was, my comment would look more like The Sentinels, although probably with more slurs on poor personal taste. Pulling a Civ 5 or an XCOM don’t really work. A “civ 5″ just means “making the first bad game in the franchise/doing a really bad DLC hack job” (seriously people, watch how Relic do it and copy) while “doing an XCOM” would imply taking the name and making something completely different.
10/08/2011 at 17:59 Zelius says:
I’d just like to add this: I loved Fallout 1 and 2. That said, I also liked Fallout 3 and New Vegas (the latter more than the former). Fallout 3 brought new life into the series. Had Bethesda not made it, we might never have seen another Fallout title.
“Pulling a Fallout 3″ might mean the same for Alpha Centauri, and I’d rather take that over not seeing another Alpha Centauri ever again.
10/08/2011 at 18:39 Khemm says:
@Zelius
Hey, do you know that former Black Isle guys were interested in picking up the Fallout license? Troika rings a bell? Stop portraing Bethesda as some “saviours” of the series, because their POS has nothing in common with F1 and 2 aside from sharing the title and art assets here and there.
Brought new life into the series? Oooh, you mean made it retard-friendly, because your average ADHD moron capable of playing FPS games only won’t touch anything else, instantly deem it “boring”. I’m sure the same crowd will LOVE the new X-COM and use the same arguments as you. Unless 2K just makes a bad game in its own right.
If you love seeing franchises raped just for the sake of having new installments, good for you – but that kind of attitude will lead to more first person shooter crap.
@The Sentinel’s “Fallout 3 was GREAT”
Yeah sure. Daikatana was GREAT, too!
10/08/2011 at 18:44 Nalano says:
Bethesda showed how much they wanted to “bring the Fallout franchise back” by suing Interplay. Kinda says it all right there.
10/08/2011 at 18:56 Vinraith says:
@Nalano
Personal opinion, of course, but I think the IP’s better off in Bethesda’s hands than it is in the hands of that thing that’s calling itself “Interplay” these days. It’s not like they were going to release Van Buren or something, just some incredibly shitty Fallout MMO (if that).
10/08/2011 at 18:57 Wizardry says:
What does Interplay have to do with this? They are a shadow of their former selves. Hervé Caen had nothing to do with Fallout yet had the power to dictate who could carry on the franchise. From the point of view of a consumer/gamer, Bethesda “legitimately” purchasing the intellectual property from an unrecognisable Interplay means nothing. And again, from the point of view of a consumer/gamer, Fallout is Tim Cain’s baby, not Todd fucking Howard’s, the guy who ruined The Elder Scrolls.
10/08/2011 at 19:19 Snargelfargen says:
I don’t understand the controversy here. :-(
Fallout’s 1, 2 and 3 were all great games.
FO3 (and New Vegas to a lesser extent) are both “Bethesda” games, meaning they have a unique style and game-play. They may not have been the turn-based rpg that the original games were, but they stayed true to the spirit of the IP, while playing to the developer’s strengths.
It sucks that turn-based rpgs aren’t seen as viable AAA games, but FO3 is a good game if you judge it on its own merits.
10/08/2011 at 19:23 Wizardry says:
@Snargelfargen: I can’t think of many RPGs that are worse than Fallout 3.
10/08/2011 at 19:36 Snargelfargen says:
If it weren’t for the bare bones levelling system, I don’t think it would be considered an rpg at all, more of a westernized version of STALKER.
It sounds a lot like you just don’t enjoy this particular genre. So to get back on topic, if you are worried that Alpha Centauri will be changed to a genre that you don’t like, then yes, I agree. Anything involving Facebook, or perhaps a micro-transaction MMO would make me quite sad. I do have a hard time imagining how the Alpha Centauri IP could be remotely useful for a first-person game of any sort.
10/08/2011 at 20:56 Nalano says:
With apologies to Brian Reynolds and Sid Meier, I don’t subscribe to the “one guy makes the games we know and love” silliness.
And as for the new Interplay not being the old Interplay, either way, Bethesda doesn’t know how to do a Fallout.
10/08/2011 at 21:39 Zelius says:
@Khemm,
You’re an angry one, aren’t you?
And you do realise both Black Isle and Troika have been out of business for years, right?
10/08/2011 at 15:41 f4stjack says:
I DON’T KNOW BUT I’VE BEEN TOLD
DEIRDRE HAS A NETWORK NODE
LIKES TO PRESS THE ON OFF SWITCH
DIG THAT CRAZY GAIAN WITCH!
10/08/2011 at 21:55 Arglebargle says:
You could see them in there;
You could hear them;
It was a thing of terrible beauty….
11/08/2011 at 13:03 Dreamhacker says:
A handsome young cyborg named Ace,
wooed women at every base,
but once they glanced at his special enhancement,
they vanished with ‘nary a trace.
10/08/2011 at 15:42 N'Al says:
Also, EA: Release Alien Crossfire on GOG, dangnammit!!
10/08/2011 at 15:57 Bhazor says:
I feel your pain. But there is a workaround if you owned the disk.
http://www.gog.com/en/forum/sid_meier_s_alpha_centauri_/gog_version_works_with_retail_alien_crossfire
10/08/2011 at 16:29 Nalano says:
I still have the disc. I am happysauce.
10/08/2011 at 16:35 Splynter says:
I drunkenly stepped on my disc last year. The next morning was one of the saddest moments of realization I’ve had in a long time.
10/08/2011 at 17:17 Spider Jerusalem says:
Sold Out Software has a cheap re-release of AC Complete out. You can find it on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Sid-Meiers-Alpha-Centauri-Complete/dp/B001RIYNF2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1312992938&sr=8-2
10/08/2011 at 15:43 Choca says:
Please don’t be a Facebook game.
10/08/2011 at 15:43 jti says:
If it isn’t FPS, it most certainly is RTS. It’s the times we are living…
10/08/2011 at 15:50 Xocrates says:
If your RTS isn’t named Starcraft, it won’t sell that well either. So I would be extremely surprised if they did that if they do change the game genre.
10/08/2011 at 16:30 Nalano says:
Well, to be fair, THQ’s been doing decently.
10/08/2011 at 17:56 Xocrates says:
True, but consider for a moment that currently DoW 2: Retribution has significantly less concurrent players on Steam than Civ V.
10/08/2011 at 18:13 Nalano says:
‘Course, DoW2 games are finished inside of 20 minutes and Civ5 games are pretty much all-day affairs.
10/08/2011 at 19:06 Xocrates says:
‘Course, Dow 2 players could play more than one game during that time.
Honestly, given we don’t have the average session time and frequency for each game, this is speculation.
But seriously, 20,000 Vs 3,500 is likely to mean something
10/08/2011 at 23:16 Nalano says:
Point. Still, better’n nothing.
10/08/2011 at 15:43 chabuhi says:
Please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh plese (ha! you thought I was just copying and pasting) oh please oh please oh please!
10/08/2011 at 15:44 CMaster says:
Thing is, I don’t necessarily want a new SMAC.
What I want is a new-civ style game that takes the creative factions and deep systems, especially the living world of Civ and puts them into a new context. It’s why I never cared for Civ IV mods that planned to emulate SMAC – you couldn’t do any of the important stuff within the framework of Civ IV, tied as it was to terrain types and stacks of doom.
10/08/2011 at 15:47 Jajusha says:
This game will be great, with 2 civs only at start, but 6 more on day 1 DLCs (2.99$ each + taxes), it will feature the expanded AI of CIV V (that we all love). Terraforming, happyness and unit design will be removed, to streamline the game, and mind worms replaced with “global warming”.
That, or an FPS, yeah. Call of Alpa Centauri I.
10/08/2011 at 16:01 lasikbear says:
Don’t you mean the mind worms will be replaced with ‘global worming’!
10/08/2011 at 15:54 Diziet Sma says:
Why do I have the horrible feeling it will be a facebook game?
10/08/2011 at 16:06 rustybroomhandle says:
That was what I was about to say. It’s a likely scenario, considering recent trends – Civ, King’s Bounty.
10/08/2011 at 16:01 Godsmith says:
“This can only mean one thing: a new FPS is on the way! Ha. My little joke there. Sorry.”
I laughed out loud. Now my coworkers are looking strangely at me.
10/08/2011 at 16:05 onodera says:
SMAC is my favourite Civ-game, even though it is completely unbalanced with its forests and choppers. A facelift and a rebalance is all it needs. Maybe a handful of new features. Please, please, let it be close to the original, not an RTS or a Facebook game.
I have a bad feeling about this.
10/08/2011 at 16:10 The Sentinel says:
As do I. Unless handled by the original devs most remakes are, at best, deeply divisive and at worst ludicrous shambling monsters wearing the skin of their forebears but being horribly different.and wrong. I genuinely fear this will fall into the latter category.
10/08/2011 at 16:07 Dreamhacker says:
I fear for John Riccitello’s Alpha Centauri 2: Post-modern Warfare, yet I still hold out hope for a miracle.
But I wish they would just, you know, sell the rights back to Firaxis.
10/08/2011 at 16:14 MuscleHorse says:
Moving into different genres/reworkings isn’t always a bad thing – Fallout New Vegas is a worthy addition to the series (just don’t mention FO3).
I’ve only dabbled in AC but I can see why it still holds a place in the collective’s heart. I’ll get around to a proper game someday.
10/08/2011 at 22:21 Kamos says:
Except New Vegas was not a reworking – it was step back from the ‘revolutionary’ RPG/shooter Frankenstein Bethesda created, making it an acceptable shooter with RPG elements. Example given, you can have horrible numbers in a weapon skill and still hit things if you (the player) manage to aim right. It was also a step back from the horrendous writing seen in FO3, back to good writing.
10/08/2011 at 16:14 Jorum says:
My initial reaction of unbridled euphoric joy was quickly sunk by the realisation it is almost certainly going to be a facebook game.
10/08/2011 at 16:22 Dreamhacker says:
Well, they filed for a PC game AND a Facebook game. If we’re lucky, that could mean one real Alpha Centauri game and one gimmicky ad-campaign-related FB game.
10/08/2011 at 16:17 Jorum says:
Also given the age of AC why are there still so few (any?) games that allow you to plan joint attacks with AI partner? It was so simple (drag big arrow saying “please move here than attack this”) but it made alliances so much more effective.
10/08/2011 at 16:31 Splynter says:
Didn’t empire earth 2 have something like this? I never played it, but I seem to remember something about arrows on maps from reading previews…
10/08/2011 at 20:21 Kollega says:
Yup, Empire Earth 2 had that feature. The game itself wasn’t that good, but that feature was there.
11/08/2011 at 16:31 inawarminister says:
Age of Empires III had this.
And AoM, I think.
Don’t know what else.
(also I need to play SMAC again)
10/08/2011 at 16:19 Dys Does Dakka says:
“This can only mean one thing: a new FPS is on the way! Ha. My little joke there. Sorry.”
…I’m not seeing the joke here.
10/08/2011 at 16:30 Splynter says:
OH. FUCK. YES.
10/08/2011 at 16:30 Gassalasca says:
Let it whop, let it whop that steel on down
Let it whop, let it whop that steel on down…
10/08/2011 at 16:34 Bilbo says:
But strategy games just aren’t contemporary, so if this is coming back you fucking know it will be an FPS with a focus on online multiplayer
10/08/2011 at 16:34 Namos says:
I’ve got another franchise to add to my prayers.
Too bad the god of PC gaming is fickle and merciless.
10/08/2011 at 17:56 ankh says:
PC gaming actually died in 2004 and went straight to Hell as punishment for having no God. This God you’re praying to is nothing but a figment of your imagination.
10/08/2011 at 18:22 Durkonkell says:
HERETIC! INCINERATE HIM!
10/08/2011 at 18:45 Nalano says:
I dunno about you folks, but I pray to the dread lord Bhaal. I figure, if he answers, great, and if he doesn’t answer, even better!
10/08/2011 at 22:21 ankh says:
Meh. He stops being scary after you’ve killed him over nine thousand times for his loot.
10/08/2011 at 16:38 reticulate says:
Fuck. Yes.
That is all.
10/08/2011 at 16:39 BobsLawnService says:
SMAC was a once off wonder. You just can’t capture that sort of lightning in a bottle, franchise it and hope to capture what made it work. Anu sequel is just going to be lacking that something special – mark my words.
10/08/2011 at 16:46 MonkeyMonster says:
I threw out the user manual for both this and alien crossfire 2 weeks ago when moving house… i’d lost the discs :(
but I did have a sudden memory bubble for star control 2 and found its out there still :D Halleluyah!
10/08/2011 at 16:53 Nicholas Totton says:
Willing to bet money this will no doubt be some stupid facebook game.
10/08/2011 at 17:13 dontnormally says:
TL;DR YES YES YES YES YES
okay, i’ll read now.
10/08/2011 at 17:14 Herbert_West says:
Yes, yes, yes, YES!
Zharkov/Deidre ftw!
10/08/2011 at 17:20 Demiath says:
SMAC my witch up, this sounds exciting. Of course, it also sounds like a mere trademark formality and methinks anyone (looking at you, mr R) who gets our hopes up needlessly deserves some serious nerve stapling…
10/08/2011 at 17:32 shagen454 says:
Finally, man. RPS still has never given AC it’s proper due. This game deserves praise upon praise of the highest order. To me there are three absolute classics for modern gaming: the Black Isles (Planescape, Fallout, Baldur’s Gate), The Looking Glasses (Thief, System Shock 2) and the Brian Reynold’s (AC). I used to play Civ when I was in 4th grade… to me Civ and all of it’s sequels just do not come close to the grandeur that is AC. The most political game, prophetic video game ever made. I’d equate it to playing “The Age of Spiritual Machines” by Ray Kurzweil.
The poblem obviously being that Reynolds works for… … … Zzz… ynga. But, that is reality folks. Gotta make the dollah dollah bills y’all. And it doesn’t seem like a lot of assholes bought the original AC even though its had high marks across the board.
10/08/2011 at 19:38 WPUN says:
Good points and I can agree with a bunch o’ that. All I want for Christmas is a hot computer that runs Windows 98, SMAC, and the Thief series.
10/08/2011 at 17:37 shagen454 says:
I would also appreciate a follow-up to AC in the same regard as Fallout 3 or the newest Deus Ex. Where, yes, they may not capture you in the exact same way as the original did. But, it’d still be nice to have some more even if it is more of the same from a different perspective.
I mean there is noway anyone would ever capture those almost DIY feeling, many times bizarre and completely dark – secret project cut scenes.
10/08/2011 at 17:47 Daiv says:
Hopefully EA won’t give me cause to use the boil of mindworms I’ve been carefully tending in the basement.
Shhh, my pretties. It’s okay. I know you’re eager to cause agonising death, but wait for your day. For now, sleep, my little psychic predators.
10/08/2011 at 18:04 thegooseking says:
Sorry, this isn’t a remake of Sid Meier’s strategy classic; it’s a remake of Journey to Alpha Centauri (In Real Time), the concept for which was put forward in Only You Can Save Mankind.
They had to go and make it real-time, didn’t they?
10/08/2011 at 18:24 Gap Gen says:
If they can find another philosophy graduate to lead this now that Brian Reynolds has gone off to make games about farming and duping housewives, that’d be good. Hell, if they just re-released the original game with a better UI I’d be happy.
10/08/2011 at 18:44 Pipster says:
I’ve felt a wiggle down there. Then I thought oh no maybe it’s just a facebook type of thing. Well, I’ll stay tuned.
10/08/2011 at 18:44 Khemm says:
It’ll be a facebook game, an RTS of an FPS, you all know this to be true.
… Should it become an FPS, you’ll all bitch about it, then love it anyway, being the tools you all are. See Fallshit 3 and New Vegas for reference.
10/08/2011 at 21:25 thegooseking says:
Clearly you must be very smart to be able to hate things. We’re all really impressed. Really.
10/08/2011 at 21:31 Fiatil says:
That’s some lofty trolling right there, but you trailed off a little bit too much. I really liked what you did with “Fallshit”, couldn’t you do something like “New LAMEgas” with it?
10/08/2011 at 18:46 IDtenT says:
The rich speculative fiction and novelised story comes in ahead of any PC game I’ve encountered. The closest game that I can think of is Homeworld, which was also surprisingly rich in sci-fi lore.
Anyhow, here are some much worthy reading material:
http://www.firaxis.com/smac/assets/journey.rtf
http://www.firaxis.com/smac/assets/arrival.rtf
10/08/2011 at 18:47 Vinraith says:
In the wake of Civ 5 I sincerely doubt Firaxis can do this justice. The window passed around Civ 4, and that’s a damn shame.
10/08/2011 at 20:34 ScubaMonster says:
I thought Civ 5 was terrible compared to 4.
10/08/2011 at 18:57 vodka and cookies says:
Facebook/iOS game guaranteed.
10/08/2011 at 19:09 pakoito says:
Online game? smells like facebook.
10/08/2011 at 20:33 ScubaMonster says:
After the garbage that is Civ 5, they should probably just let it remain in the past. Unless they can somehow not screw it up but I don’t have a lot of faith.
10/08/2011 at 20:52 jalf says:
I’m currently playing a SMAC play-by-email game with 5 friends. Kind of slow going, of course (we’re spread across 3 continents, and most of us have work and/or school to juggle along with the game), but just playing SMAC again is lovely.
And getting a remake/sequel/whatever? Yes please!
10/08/2011 at 21:54 Commander Gun says:
“We don’t want a monopoly. Our products are simply so good, that nobody feels the need to compete with us”
-CEO Morgan
10/08/2011 at 22:29 Kamos says:
Pravin Lal is evil. EVIL. And he lies. For a pacifist, isn’t it strange that he is even more expansionist than the hive and even more gun-happy than the spartans?
10/08/2011 at 23:11 Nalano says:
Seriously. I was the Hive last game I played and HE instigated a war with ME.
Which is sorta like fighting a land war in Asia, but what the hell, Lal!
11/08/2011 at 03:52 Rinox says:
Brother Lal once told me off for having weapons of mass destruction (unused). 3 turns later, he nuked my most important sites with planet busters.
UN sanctions never felt the same again.
10/08/2011 at 22:37 Navagon says:
So another ‘streamlined’ browser game, that knowing EA, has some kind of ludicrously expensive ironically titled micropayments.
Until I see strong evidence to the contrary then that is all I think this thing will amount to.
10/08/2011 at 22:45 Betamax says:
Welcome back, the Drones have needed you.
10/08/2011 at 23:13 The Sombrero Kid says:
Hope firaxis are involved.
11/08/2011 at 05:11 JuJuCam says:
Whenever I hear about the current situation in England, all I think about is the computer voice from SMAC sadly saying “Drone Riots.”
11/08/2011 at 06:00 colinmarc says:
oh yes oh yes oh yes oh GOD OH GOD OH GOD
11/08/2011 at 20:22 Foosnark says:
Please don’t suck. The drones need you. They look up to you.
12/08/2011 at 01:58 MythArcana says:
I have this gem installed and the Ai is ruthless and quite a challenge to say the least. I’m just now starting to open up to CIV V a little more, although still generally disappointed with it compared to these classic games that were made during a time when complexity and quality were expected. I do get the FPS joke; let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.
16/08/2011 at 13:22 doomscape says:
Sweet! Looking forward to it.
16/11/2012 at 04:24 bernlin2000 says:
I actually went on Firaxis’ website today, to find some sort of email address where I could ask them about a sequel: damn to hell the sales (which apparently were worse than other Civ games), SMAC had a far more interesting storyline: hell, the other Civ games don’t even have one! I was sad to read on their FAQ that EA apparently owns the rights to the game…not sure why Firaxis would develop the game but give away their rights to the publisher. Of course, we all know know that EA is a soulless money-making machine that would only destroy the game if they chose to remake it (which they wouldn’t, since it wouldn’t feed the machine enough).
It’s moments like this that I really loathe the gaming industry today: a game of this scale almost REQUIRES a large development studio, yet none (except, most likely, Firaxis itself) would be wiling to undertake it, due to the lack of sales. Incredible games should have sequels even if they didn’t make a million in sales :(