brainygamer
Moderator
Registered: 07/13/08
Posts: 524
|
| Posted 05/22/09 at 07:29 PM | Reply with quote #1 |
|
Post thoughts on your first hour or two with the game here.
__________________
Michael Abbott
Brainy Gamer blog and podcast |
| Loading... | |
CrashT
Registered: 08/19/08
Posts: 327
|
| Posted 05/23/09 at 07:02 PM | Reply with quote #2 |
|
Having not played Alpha Centauri before and with only about an hour or so of Civilization III experience I chose to select the Quick Start option.
I've played for maybe an hour now and I think I'm getting the hang of things but I'm noticing a couple of things I don't really understand.
I seem to end up with dozens of units I'm not really sure what to do with. I'm using the Formers to create Farms and Mines etc which makes sense and using some of the Scouts to explore the map and fight of Mind Worms, but I seem to have far more than I need and can't work out why my cities are creating them when I thought I'd told them to focus on Discovery or Build (Which I got the impression was about focusing on city based construction). I've been garrisoning some units and disbanding others but the latter seems like a waste of resources.
Another thing that puzzled me was that I apparently captured some Mind Worms and then had control of them but I don't have any idea what I'm suppose, or able, to do with them?
Overall I found I was getting hooked quick rapidly, but it felt difficult to ascertain how well I was doing, or whether I was doing what I was meant to or not. Maybe I'm not looking in the right places for feedback?
__________________
Justin Keverne
GamerTag: CrashT
Groping The Elephant |
| Loading... | |
Kloreep
Registered: 08/04/08
Posts: 294
|
| Posted 05/23/09 at 08:54 PM | Reply with quote #3 |
|
I've played some Alpha Centuari before, but not a whole lot. I've played a lot of Civs 3 and 4, though, so I'm quite familiar with the mold.
This time I talked myself away from my favorite, the University, and I'm instead playing the Morganites. It's an interesting experience. The support costs are forcing me to stretch myself thin lest I eat too far into my mineral output, but the +1 ECON has already come in handy now that I'm having my society value Wealth. I've met Zakharov and Yang on my borders, and the two are slugging it out with each other. I've been taking the opportunity to expand like mad and neglecting my military, so things could go badly if Zakharov turns his Impact weapons on me when I'm still using Scout Patrols for garrisons. I'm trying to get some Probe Teams out so that I can try buying his army if it starts marching on me.
I find myself griping about some of the things I think other Civs did better (units are supported by individual cities? So much micromanagement!) but I'm also re-discovering what a special atmosphere the game has. I fear the fungus and the native life in a way that the barbarians and the dark in other civs just don't call for.
Quote: Originally Posted by CrashT
I seem to end up with dozens of units I'm not really sure what to do with. I'm using the Formers to create Farms and Mines etc which makes sense and using some of the Scouts to explore the map and fight of Mind Worms, but I seem to have far more than I need and can't work out why my cities are creating them when I thought I'd told them to focus on Discovery or Build (Which I got the impression was about focusing on city based construction). I've been garrisoning some units and disbanding others but the latter seems like a waste of resources.
I'd recommend taking charge of your builds personally, myself, but I can't say I've actually tried the governors.
Quote: Originally Posted by CrashT
Another thing that puzzled me was that I apparently captured some Mind Worms and then had control of them but I don't have any idea what I'm suppose, or able, to do with them?
Nothing special; you can use them as your own military units.
Quote: Originally Posted by CrashT
Overall I found I was getting hooked quick rapidly, but it felt difficult to ascertain how well I was doing, or whether I was doing what I was meant to or not. Maybe I'm not looking in the right places for feedback?
Now that you mention it, I think part of the challenge in games like these is figuring out how well you're doing. With experience, you come to know how to balance your tactics, but you always have to hunt down information about the other players if you want to make a relative judgment.
|
| Loading... | |
criddles
Registered: 05/05/09
Posts: 3
|
| Posted 05/23/09 at 09:06 PM | Reply with quote #4 |
|
Glad to hear you are starting to get hooked CrashT, even if some parts are a little confusing.
I have to say, even though I have had the game since release, I have never actually used the city governors, opting to do everything myself, because the few times I did try I had a similar experience, the cities in question would build things that made no sense to me.
The Formers, however, I would always automate, as they seem to do a pretty good job on there own, and only take them over to get them out of harm's way or to build a particular road or something.
As for your extra units you have ended up with because of the Governors, you can pick a city that could use some extra resources for building and move them there, tell is to "Set Home City" in the action menu, and then disband. Some resources will go toward production. Setting Home City is also a good way to spread out your unit support more evenly, so that your main production city is not bearing the brunt of your support cost.
As for mind worms, they function as any other military unit, except that their attacks are psi-based which has more to do with morale. And they are upgraded solely on unit experience, so try to keep them alive and they will become powerhouses.
Hope these tips help, and hopefully I'll get back into playing myself, but the Team Fortress updates are distracting me currently.
|
| Loading... | |
davidcarlton
Moderator
Registered: 07/15/08
Posts: 548
|
| Posted 05/24/09 at 01:35 PM | Reply with quote #5 |
|
I finally got around to installing the game yesterday afternoon (in a VirtualBox instance on my Linux machine) - SMAC + all patches, no expansion, I needed to turn off that voxel thing to get the game willing to play for more than 2 seconds. But after that it worked fine; sound is glitchy (and eventually disappears entirely), but I think that's a VB problem rather than a SMAC problem.
And then I started a game on the easiest setting (University faction), just to get myself used to the basic mechanics. And, as always happens with me with Civ-style games, I was unable to stop, this time to the extent that I won my first game last night. Now I'm planning to spend some time doing stuff like reading the manual; I'll probably start another playthrough (changing the faction and bumping up the setting - I like my Civ games on the easy side, but it's nice to have to think occasionally) later this week.
The "Early" here means "the early stages of a single game", right? I'll put some of my comments in the "Mid game" thread, then, but some top-level impressions:
* It's a Civ game. Maybe differences from other Civ games will become more apparent as I dig into the details more or as I play other factions, but right now it seems pretty standard. Which is fine, I'm clearly quite capable of getting addicted to them.
* I'm not used to automating my terrain-improvement types, but it seems to work fine in this game. Then again, on the easiest setting, anything works fine...
* Maybe it's just my imagination, but there seem to be fewer unit types available in this game than in other Civ games. If so, I approve of that - it's a form of detailed planning that I don't particularly enjoy.
* Maybe it's just my imagination, but there seem to be fewer city improvements available in this game than in other Civ games. If so, I don't approve of that as much - it's a form of detailed planning that I do enjoy! Honestly, I'd be happy with a Civ game with no explicit combat at all. Hmm, maybe it's time for me to play a SimCity game again?
* I also haven't really been reading the tech tree, while I normally spending lots of time reading that in games like this.
|
| Loading... | |
crimsonclone
Registered: 09/02/08
Posts: 156
|
| Posted 05/24/09 at 05:48 PM | Reply with quote #6 |
|
Its been a few years since I've touched SMAC and coming back I can certaintly apreciate the interface improvements with Civ 4. It took a good hour messing around with the game before I figured out where basic controls were and I still can't figure out where spy reports on other factions are stored or how to upgrade all units of the same type. I would also like more detailed breakdowns of all bases to get an idea who is producing the most research, who is draining the economy on maintenance costs, and so on. Its not horrid but it gets complicated fast, especially once you have more than 10 bases.
Other than that, I'd forgotten how much the game makes the fight against the environment of planet a major element. Fungus and mindworms represent a significant threat to growth and development in the early game and just when an area is established they tend to come back with a vengence. Its effective in conveying the idea that the player is trying to establish a working society in a hostile alien environment.
Quote: Originally Posted by davidcarlton
* I'm not used to automating my terrain-improvement types, but it seems to work fine in this game. Then again, on the easiest setting, anything works fine...
It seems like the automation is very hit and miss. For example, the automated AI can build up the infastructure of a cluster of bases very efficiently in the early game but has trouble with the more advanced terraforming technologies. Also, it may be just me but it is seems like it is obsessed with planting forests.
Quote: Originally Posted by davidcarlton
* Maybe it's just my imagination, but there seem to be fewer city improvements available in this game than in other Civ games. If so, I don't approve of that as much - it's a form of detailed planning that I do enjoy!
I'll go into more detail in the late game thread but all the fun stuff really doesn't start to show up until very late in the game, namely all the orbital toys and terrain deformation abilities can use. Especially early on it never feels like there are 'must have' improvements and +50% to economy or whatnot doesn't feel like much when the base produces 3 energy to economy per turn.
|
| Loading... | |
CrashT
Registered: 08/19/08
Posts: 327
|
| Posted 05/24/09 at 06:19 PM | Reply with quote #7 |
|
Quote: Originally Posted by crimsonclone
Also, it may be just me but it is seems like it is obsessed with planting forests.
__________________
Justin Keverne
GamerTag: CrashT
Groping The Elephant |
| Loading... | |
kateri
Registered: 03/02/09
Posts: 40
|
| Posted 05/24/09 at 07:07 PM | Reply with quote #8 |
|
OK, just put a few hours into this... I've played a lot of Sim City, but never a Civ game. I think I'm getting the basics of the interface now, after an abortive start, but I have no clue what I'm trying to do! *flails* My bar chart bar is the biggest, but I'm not entirely sure why. I made a friend, who turned into an asshole, so now I'm trying to stomp him. Am building various things at my bases that sound delightful, but I'm not sure what effect they have. Hmm.
|
| Loading... | |
davidcarlton
Moderator
Registered: 07/15/08
Posts: 548
|
| Posted 05/24/09 at 11:01 PM | Reply with quote #9 |
|
Quote: Originally Posted by kateri
I made a friend, who turned into an asshole, so now I'm trying to stomp him.
I like that sentence, so I'm going to quote it twice!
Quote: Originally Posted by kateri
OK, just put a few hours into this... I've played a lot of Sim City, but never a Civ game. I think I'm getting the basics of the interface now, after an abortive start, but I have no clue what I'm trying to do! *flails* My bar chart bar is the biggest, but I'm not entirely sure why. I made a friend, who turned into an asshole, so now I'm trying to stomp him. Am building various things at my bases that sound delightful, but I'm not sure what effect they have. Hmm.
I'm in the middle of reading the manual now after finishing my first playthrough, and I'm sure I'm getting a lot more out of the manual than I would have if I'd read it before trying the game. So I hope my next attempt at playing the game will go more, um, awarely? There is quite a lot to absorb. |
| Loading... | |
ILR
Registered: 08/27/08
Posts: 140
|
| Posted 05/25/09 at 08:04 AM | Reply with quote #10 |
|
Quote: Originally Posted by davidcarlton
I'm in the middle of reading the manual now after finishing my first playthrough, and I'm sure I'm getting a lot more out of the manual than I would have if I'd read it before trying the game. So I hope my next attempt at playing the game will go more, um, awarely? There is quite a lot to absorb.
Now that you mentioned it, that sounds like a really good way to get to know a game like this. Set the difficulty to minimum and play through one game by just following your intuition and general knowledge of similar games. After initial success or failure, tackle the rules, mechanics and nuances when you are familiar with the overall setting. And set the difficulty to a more challenging level if that's what you're after.
There's a proverb in Go: "Lose your first 50 games as quickly as possible". No reason why it shouldn't apply to Alpha Centauri as well as a general idea.
|
| Loading... | |
kateri
Registered: 03/02/09
Posts: 40
|
| Posted 05/25/09 at 02:05 PM | Reply with quote #11 |
|
Quote: Originally Posted by davidcarltonQuote: Originally Posted by kateri
I made a friend, who turned into an asshole, so now I'm trying to stomp him. I like that sentence, so I'm going to quote it twice!
He was all nicey-nicey at first, we traded a little research, promised to be BFFs, it was special. Then he started with the "gimme all your research in exchange for this peanutshell I found down the back of my settee" and when I said no, went all "AH KIH YOU!". I really don't think this guy took Diplomacy 101.
|
| Loading... | |
davidcarlton
Moderator
Registered: 07/15/08
Posts: 548
|
| Posted 05/25/09 at 05:05 PM | Reply with quote #12 |
|
Quote: Originally Posted by kateri
He was all nicey-nicey at first, we traded a little research, promised to be BFFs, it was special. Then he started with the "gimme all your research in exchange for this peanutshell I found down the back of my settee" and when I said no, went all "AH KIH YOU!". I really don't think this guy took Diplomacy 101.
Diplomacy is one of the things I struggle with in Civ games - I'm happy when the game is going along well and I don't mind sharing, and I can go on the warpath against a single person fine, too, but I'm pretty bad at building alliances with person A while dealing with a war against person B. (Actually, it's usually A and B who are fighting, and who want me to pick a side, while I just want everybody to get along!)
Hmm, kind of like real life - I can behave well when everybody is getting along decently, but I'm a bit at sea when the stakes and tensions rise broadly. |
| Loading... | |
10rdBen
Registered: 07/15/08
Posts: 79
|
| Posted 05/25/09 at 11:17 PM | Reply with quote #13 |
|
Quote: Originally Posted by kateri
He was all nicey-nicey at first, we traded a little research, promised to be BFFs, it was special. Then he started with the "gimme all your research in exchange for this peanutshell I found down the back of my settee" and when I said no, went all "AH KIH YOU!". I really don't think this guy took Diplomacy 101.
Ahh, Alpha Centauri at it's best! =P
Just before he turned on you, let me guess, he threatened you with the fact that he had just discovered "Silksteel" technology and the first wave of Silksteel Sentinels (1-2-1) were entering his army rendering his forces practically invulnerable. Meanwhile you were probably already building something like Chaos Rovers (6-4-2) or something equally advanced and devastating which made his Silksteel armour look like tissue paper... oh the hilarity.
But that's probably quite accurate a representation of the kind of bragging and oneupmanship that real generals do. When conflicts are horribly one-sided in terms of technological advancement, the David in this David & Goliath scenario doesn't just go "Hey, we only have horses, but they have tanks" and give up - a big part of it is intimidation and I think they presented that aspect quite well. Even if it is incredibly simplistic, in this case.
__________________
Ben Abraham
Read about my Thesis on music in videogames at: http://drgamelove.blogspot.com |
| Loading... | |
DoubleDracula
Registered: 01/21/09
Posts: 31
|
| Posted 05/26/09 at 08:10 AM | Reply with quote #14 |
|
My patience gets the best of me most times so playing these types of games tends to annoy the living hell out of me. Or, they did, since the MMO i've found that my patience for games has increased.
Anyway, the nice thing about this game seems to be the automation. On a regular game on the world map, I came to dominate the planet with very little effort. I just told the game to automate that unit, automate my exploration, and automate as much as I can then sit back and enjoy the show.
The first meetings seem to work well the first time you play the game and I have to wonder if this is why those sorts of things are in there. Games like civilization seem to work best the first time you play through. |
| Loading... | |
zsozso
Registered: 05/26/09
Posts: 3
|
| Posted 05/26/09 at 02:22 PM | Reply with quote #15 |
|
Quote: Originally Posted by davidcarlton
* Maybe it's just my imagination, but there seem to be fewer unit types available in this game than in other Civ games.
Actually, SMAC allows far more variety of units than any other Civ game, because it has a Unit Designer Workshop, where you can really let your imagination go wild and design all kinds of crazy units. In fact, there are a few units that you really must design to play the game to its full potential, e.g. the probe-ships and water-crawlers. You can also do some interesting combinations, like flying colony pods, land-transport units equipped with drop pods that make it easy to deploy other units in 8-tile radius, e.g. deliver a probe team deep into enemy territory, or deliver a colony pod straight to a target location to build a new city several turns faster (saving the walking time). Just press the key 'u' to open up the workshop, and you can start designing units: choose chassis, armor, weapon and up to 2 special abilities.
|
| Loading... | |
Melthu
Registered: 05/26/09
Posts: 1
|
| Posted 05/26/09 at 03:06 PM | Reply with quote #16 |
|
I'm new to these forums, so I'm not sure what kind of perspective you're usually looking for. I played AC extensively a few years ago and am a fairly advanced player, so I thought I'd give some of my impressions on it compared to the Civ games, which most people here seem to be familiar with. Note that I am not nearly as experienced with the Civ games, so I may make some incorrect assumptions about them.
Most of the similarities between AC and the Civ series are pretty apparent from the start, so I'll get into the differences. The most significant difference, in my opinion, is the level of control that you have in AC. Every square of land can be terraformed into whatever you want. You can turn barren desert into fertile farmland, or you can turn 3000 foot high mountains into ocean trench tiles. You can then build crawler units to harvest those squares, even they're outside the range of any city's production radius. There are almost no limits on what kind of units you can design if you have the proper technologies.
This level of control is what draws me into the game so much. I'm a micromanager at heart, so the ability to design that perfect unit or turn a tile from a 0 resource desert to a 6 nutrient powerhouse really hits the spot for me. It was a real shock when I first went back to the Civ series after playing AC and tried to play the "perfect" game. It seemed to me that there is a skill cap in those games hard-coded in that prevents you from overpowering your opponents. Tiles can only be improved to a certain degree, crawling resources is much more limited, and technological advances seemed to be limited at one every 4 turns. It felt like the game was arbitrarily holding me back so I couldn't overwhelm my opponents. There is no such mechanism in AC.
The downsides to this are intense micromanagement (particularly late in games and/or if you ICS, which I do) and poor opposition from computer-controlled opponents. The AI is entirely incapable of keeping up with an average human player due to the complexity of the game. This becomes a real stumbling block to enjoying multiple playthroughs if you don't play against other players. Luckily, there are some single-player scenarios available that give the computer a significant boost to make it a real threat. Still, you'll be missing out if you never play against another human player.
@zsozso: Now there's a name I remember from Apolyton. Sadly, I checked those forums a couple weeks ago and they seem mostly dead. Is weplayciv a more active place for AC fans?
|
| Loading... | |
zsozso
Registered: 05/26/09
Posts: 3
|
| Posted 05/26/09 at 03:18 PM | Reply with quote #17 |
|
Hi Melthu,
Yes, there is a very active SMAC community at WePlayCiv, check out:
http://www.weplayciv.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=7
|
| Loading... | |
zackman
Registered: 10/21/08
Posts: 43
|
| Posted 05/27/09 at 09:22 AM | Reply with quote #18 |
|
I am completely new to Sid Meier's games. The only strategy games I've played have been Starcraft and Japanese strategy RPGs (and I suck at Starcraft). My lack of experience is the reason I voted for AC.
My early impression is Confusion. I skimmed the first few pages of the manual, which basically said, "Don't read this, go play the tutorials!". I was expecting the carefully graded, restricted levels from Starcraft's Terran campaign, but instead I got a tiny but complete level with tooltips overlaid.
The interface feels like using Linux for the first time. There's a bunch of stuff that is clickable but nothing really does what I expect. I finally muddled through the tutorials and I feel like I can run a colony now, but I don't see a campaign option on the main menu. I remember reading something about the "story of AC being better than that of Civ" but from reading the posts here I think that gave me a false expectation of a campaign mode.
After the first tutorial, I thought the interface was so confusing and messed up that the game couldn't possibly be fun. But I stuck through the third one and it's starting to make sense now. I figured out how to pull up the tech tree descriptions and they are truly engrossing. |
| Loading... | |
vyeh
Registered: 05/25/09
Posts: 26
|
| Posted 05/29/09 at 02:25 PM | Reply with quote #19 |
|
The active posters from Apolyton moved to We Play Civ at the end of April.
The general advice is not to use the governors. Once you learn how to use build queues, you can program up to 10 facilities or units in advance.
Note that there are various levels of automation for formers. Try instructing your formers to build a road to.
While there may be few units and facilities available at the beginning, your options will quickly grow as you discover tech.
For your first hour of play, you should consider aiming toward Centauri Ecology (it allows you to build formers), Industrial Base (it gives you synthmetal, Defense 2 armor), Doctrine: Mobility (it gives you rovers, speed 2), Applied Physics (it gives you lasers, attack 2), Biogenetics (it allows you to build recycling tanks), depending on your tactical situation.
Also you can look at Social Engineering where you can adjust how much of your energy income goes to research and how much goes to your treasury.
__________________
Unofficial SMAC/X Patches Version 1.0 @ Civilization Gaming Network |
| Loading... | |
ILR
Registered: 08/27/08
Posts: 140
|
| Posted 06/02/09 at 03:31 AM | Reply with quote #20 |
|
Apart from early test games, I only now started to actually play Alpha Centauri for the first time in... umm... four or so years and it does hold up well enough. Even though this game is a stand-alone title a bit apart from the main Civilization series, it's still very much a snapshot in the Civ/Col/AC continuum from a specific time. When comparing Alpha Centauri to Civ IV, it's obvious how much progress has been made in this game series over the course of the last ten years, especially what comes to balance and streamlining.
By balance, I mean that when compared to Civ IV, Alpha Centauri has a more limited palette of strategies available. Or more accurately, the really effective strategies have been left unconstrained. The most important these is rapid expansion where you expand as rapidly as humanly possible until you run into obstacles / rivals. I really really really like what Civ IV did with the city maintenance mechanic to curtail the effectiveness of this playing style.
Streamlining comes into play when I try to make sense of the UI. Lots of data bounce around the bottom of the screen but I have severe difficulties even deciphering whether I'm running a monetary surplus or deficit each turn. There is no unified city report. The espionage screen after my first two probe team infiltrations is almost incomprehensible. What's worse, I haven't even found a way to return there. Is the EFFICIENCY rating described anywhere in the game? I had to look that up from the manual.
Alpha Centauri is also heavy on micromanagement: Units have their home bases. Former automation is usable only in limited areas. I'm not sure if the research 'credits' spill over to the next research project after a breakthrough or if they're scrapped.
The AI is horrid. It seems to be lost in the sea created by the Cartesian product of possible unit combinations, doesn't seem too interested in fielding a balanced army and moves the units in a haphazard manner ("Yes, I'll move an unguarded probe team next to ILR's base so I can infiltrate him next turn. What could possibly go wrong?"). The diplomacy is nothing if not schitzophrenic ("Give us tech! Give us credits! You insolent twit! How about a Pact of Brotherhood, by the way?")
I did choose the aggressive AI option, though. That might affect my last gripe.
Nevertheless, I'm having fun with the game and enjoying the challenge this far.
|
| Loading... | |
Jebus
Registered: 03/19/09
Posts: 92
|
| Posted 06/02/09 at 06:58 PM | Reply with quote #21 |
|
I've put a few hours in now and can safely say I have no idea what's going on. I've never played a Sid Meier game, but I've played plenty of RTS's and SimCity, so some of the interface makes sense. I put it on easy and read the interface tours, but they assault you with like 30 things right from the get go. Still it seems like I'm essentially unstoppable on easy, I just have no idea what it is I'm even trying to accomplish. I'm gonna have to find a PDF of the manual or something and give it a read. I can't remember feeling this clueless about how to play a game ever.
|
| Loading... | |
vyeh
Registered: 05/25/09
Posts: 26
|
| Posted 06/03/09 at 01:40 PM | Reply with quote #22 |
|
Jebus, I can't begin to help you. However, there are a whole bunch of my friends that would love to help you. Just register at weplayciv.com, go to the following forum
http://www.weplayciv.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=7
and start a new thread, say "Can someone help a newbie?"
Explain that vyeh referred you from the Vintage Game Club and repost everything you said here.
You'll get a lot of responces.
And do continue to play SMAC and post here at the Vintage Game Club. I am very interested in seeing how a complete newcomer reacts to the game.
__________________
Unofficial SMAC/X Patches Version 1.0 @ Civilization Gaming Network |
| Loading... | |
Jebus
Registered: 03/19/09
Posts: 92
|
| Posted 06/03/09 at 03:51 PM | Reply with quote #23 |
|
I restarted and played for another few hours yesterday after playing through the three tutorial scenarios and have been reading the guide off and on. Playing on Citizen still seems to be God mode, I've never not been able to upgrade or build something I wanted, resources seem unlimited and my units are powerful. I'm still fairly overwhelmed by all the micromanaging stuff, but I left a large part of it fairly automated. This first game, I've just been conquering everyone mainly, but I'm currently stuck because now everyone is an ocean away and I can't figure out how to get land units over. I've been sending planes to wipe out things, but they of course can't capture bases.
I also built a red ship and sent it to a base to attack with pretty hilarious results. Turned out it was a nuke that took out the base and the 8 surrounding squares as well, leaving nothing but ocean. I was immediately contacted by two or three of the world leaders about the atrocity I had just committed. That was a fun little discovery. 
Thanks for the advice vyeh, I'll have to check that out.
|
| Loading... | |
cameleon
Registered: 05/12/09
Posts: 10
|
| Posted 06/04/09 at 04:00 AM | Reply with quote #24 |
|
Jebus, to move land units over the ocean, you can build a transport ship. These will probably have been designed for you automatically. You can load land units in them (either by just moving the unit onto the ship, or, if both are in a city, by choosing the appropriate command for the unit), move the ship across the ocean, and unload it there.
|
| Loading... | |
Nelson
Registered: 03/18/09
Posts: 95
|
| Posted 06/10/09 at 09:45 PM | Reply with quote #25 |
|
I feel a bit guilty. When Alpha Centauri was first suggested I was very enthusiastic. I spent many happy hours playing the game, and in my mind it's the most innovative of all the Civ games. The designer Brian Reynolds then applied many of those ideas to Rise of Nations, one of the best RTS games ever, so it's a nexus for good game design.
But I've had a very hard time getting excited about playing Alpha Centauri again. Partly it's just that I'm burnt out on Civ games; all that work and management takes a lot of time. And after a bunch of iterations and refinements it's hard to go back to a relatively old game with ugly graphics and some rough UI edges.
But it's Vintage Game Club, and games are fun, so I've started up a game as Morgan on Librarian level. And just to keep myself engaged without going nuts I've decided to play almost fully automatically, including using the city governors. It's a very different kind of game when you fly through it quickly, moving just a few key units. (And avoiding wars at all costs, since combat takes so mouch time). It's sort of a zero player game, a game where most of the fun is watching the computer do neat stuff.
So after one false start where I was right next to the Spartans, I'm playing now with a sprawling empire of 8 or so bases, buying all the techs I can, and doing my best to stay at peace with everyone. I always play Civ games the exact same way, focussing on economic growth until I can just outspend everyone to victory. Funny how you can play the same game in SMAC or Civ:Revolutions, engines written ten years apart. |
| Loading... | |
