I guess this mean no alpha centauri 2.

Perhaps if EA offered to sell it to them they might consider it... but I don't think they're going to pursue it. It's a shame really, because I really enjoyed that game.
yes. as long as there is profit, there is a solution.

SMAC game is in same category with civ series. but still only a portion of civ fans know about it. even when you look at this forum, most posters are younger boys who don't know about SMAC. most posters of this forum were in primary school when SMAC was released, 11-12 years ago. most of SMAC fans already gave up playing games. this is sad really. the game is already forgotten.
 
the fight between factions and the scenery is also fine but in fact, i would also be satisfied to see some good features of the game inside a SM civ game.

the most critical onces were

1-unit workshop
2-government types
3-different terrain improvements
4-cities on sea platforms (on call to power, you could even settle on air :) )


i assume the 3rd and 4th ones are more for space and it would be weird to have in civ series, however the 1st and 2nd would be very good.
 
camarilla:

It's simple really. Sid/Firaxis/2K DO NOT OWN ALPHA CENTAURI! EA owns Alpha Centauri. EA do NOT want to make SMAC2. Sid/Firaxis/2K CANNOT make SMAC2 without a massive legal battle. Call it anything, even "Space Colonization" but if it resembles SMAC in any way it is breach of copyright and will bring the EA lawyers to bare (see Call to Power legal battles for precedent). You will NOT see a SMAC2 unless EA buys Firaxis, or EA buys 2K, or 2K buys EA.

SIMPLE! It has nothing to do with economics.
Yes they can.

Firaxis: "Say EA, can we make AC and give you a bag on money?"
EA: "Sure."

Problem solved, legal battle avoided.
 
You have to remember corporations are looking to maximize profits. Also due to the american legal system they are required to defend their ip, or lose rights to it. The fact that they own the AC IP is an asset to the company. This is why we have all these unused game IPs that companies are holding onto. It is pure money to make the company assets larger.

Also, EA will want not just a bag of money, but the largest bag of money they can get. I don't remember the buisness relationship between Fraxis and 2K (doesn't 2K own Fraxis?). If that is the case 2K is faced with the following issue - make a game where they only get part of the pie (AC2), or make a game where they get all of the pie (CiV). Seems like an obvious choice to me.

Also remember AC was a Brian Reynold's game.
 
camarilla:

It's simple really. Sid/Firaxis/2K DO NOT OWN ALPHA CENTAURI! EA owns Alpha Centauri. EA do NOT want to make SMAC2. Sid/Firaxis/2K CANNOT make SMAC2 without a massive legal battle. Call it anything, even "Space Colonization" but if it resembles SMAC in any way it is breach of copyright and will bring the EA lawyers to bare (see Call to Power legal battles for precedent). You will NOT see a SMAC2 unless EA buys Firaxis, or EA buys 2K, or 2K buys EA.

SIMPLE! It has nothing to do with economics.

If this were the case then why were there not similar legal battles over football manager and championship manager? I think it would be possible for sid to do another SMAC. However, he would have to rename it and rejig a lot of the story. If you ask me i think he should team up with the owners of avatar and make a game based upon the world pandorum. Now that would be interesting.
 
Yeah, it would be nice to make a AC2 using the Civ5 engine. It would be nice to see the return of a Civ3-like city screen, and seperate offense and defense (a feature I particularly liked). Even the old system of corruption and waste would be nice. A hexagonal Alpha Centauri. Seems good!
 
When we get more information about Civ 5 it might be good to start a thread devoted to making an AC mod within it because there seem to be a lot of us who are interested in doing that. On the other hand, I'd wager most of us have no experience modding and we're not about to start modding Civ 4 now that it's on its way out.
 
I didn't like Sins either for same reasons. You should try Sword of the Stars. It has real time tactical combat, but the main game is turn based. A pretty good 4x space game. It just has the tendency to bog down towards the end when you play it on big maps and it puts more weight on multiplayer than I'd like.

But SMAC... Long have I wanted a sequel for that. Some balancing, better UI and tweaks and it'd be perfect. I guess it's just not as attractive brand as Civilization.

Yes, I play SOTS. Your points are valid about the game, it improves with the expansions somewhat though.

SMAC, yes a sequel..even a rework (though not as slapdash as the colonization one) would be wonderful.
 
no it's all about economics. the problem here is that, alpha centauri isn't seen profittable. if it was believed to be sold much, we would already have it. so we need to raise our volume to call for alpha centauri2.

you still talk about names? here you go with 2 games with different "names".
ea shall make an Alpha Centauri2 and sid shall make a "Beta Centauri". ok?

alpha centauri2 cannot sell even 1mio copies. Beta centauri sells 5mio copies and ea lawyers cannot do anything, anything. they can only anger customers if they file anything.
so it is all economics. customers pay, customers rule. customers decide which game they will pay. and they will pick the version of Mr. Meier's. because it is the original one.


have you played larry in amiga? i assume it was larry, not sure about the name. the antagonist was trying to make love with many ladies in the game. the gfx of ladies resembled clearly one famous artist and their names in the game were so similar.
for ex: 1 of the ladies were called dewmi more, ok? you sleep with her in the game. and many more artists. any body could take anything after filing the game? no.

What a load of complete HOGWASH. You obviously have zero idea on how copyright works. I suggest going and doing some research before coming back to play with the adults. Seriously!

And then on top of that you have the hostility between EA and 2K. EA tries to buy 2K (a couple years ago). EA is foiled by 2K. EA is angry at 2K. EA will do anything to put a stick in 2K's plans. EA is NOT going to let a similar game to an IP they already own.

If Sid even attempts to make something that could be deemed similar to Alpha Centauri, in either name, gameplay, idea or even if some of the concepts are used from AC, then EA will be over them like a rash. It's how BUSINESS works. Forget the customers. EA will do anything to screw over 2K. That's how BUSINESS works.
 
Does anyone remember a space 4X called 'Ascendancy'? Beautiful artwork, a unique and very useable GUI, nice music, good basic game mechanics. From 'The Logic Factory'. Too bad we never got an 'Ascendancy II'.
 
'Ascendancy' is freeware, I just found it on the web and installed it. It's running in doxbox and it's great to be playing it again! Here I am building my interstellar empire after all....
 
Ascendancy was plagued with a 100% useless AI. Better off playing Stars!
 
When we get more information about Civ 5 it might be good to start a thread devoted to making an AC mod within it because there seem to be a lot of us who are interested in doing that.
I'm in on a space mod, not necessarily on an Alpha Centauri mod. Why not start on Beta Centauri?
On the other hand, I'd wager most of us have no experience modding and we're not about to start modding Civ 4 now that it's on its way out.
please, we still mod [civ3], [civ2] and [civ1]... don't say hat IV is on its way out.
I still occasionaly play Ascendancy, and indeed AlphaC.

Damn it, there has to be some plus side to being old :)
If you're the traditional Scot, then you've probably scrounged saved a lot of money (cofcofIdratherwalkamilethanpayaticketbuscofcof). That's a second plus for being old.
 
Why not start on Beta Centauri?

I know you were talking about a mod, not Firaxis making a sequel, but the moment I read that, my mind immediately went to this:

2K Lawyer: I don't see how this violates EA's IP. It's Beta Centauri...it's an entirely different star!
 
Ascendancy was plagued with a 100% useless AI. Better off playing Stars!

Agreed the AI was rubbish - but the music, races, tech tree and ideas were good. What I actually want is a Ascendency with a decent AI, more ships where those ships can be automated. i.e. something between that and MOOII.
 
For me, the best space strategy game was ascendancy. By far. Don't kow exactly why but i didn't like galactic civilizations.

Loved Alpha centauri too ofc.
 
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