Welcome Thread

[Petek]

Welcome to the Alpha Centauri Forum!

This forum is the place to discuss all matters related to Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri and the Alien Crossfire expansion pack.

CivFanatics is seeing an influx of new members (and lurkers), presumably because the release date for Civ 5 is getting near.

We hope that some of you will find and visit our Alpha Centauri forum. Whether you're a veteran player of the game, or a newbie who'd like to learn more about this classic scifi-flavored turn-based strategy game, please take a look around our forum. We also thought that it would be a good idea to have a thread where people can say hello and tell us a bit about themselves.

For new members, please use this thread to tell us a little about yourself. Please start a new thread if you have any questions about the game.

@regulars, please make people feel welcome, but try not to drown this thread - ensure that we keep a reasonably high ratio of wheat-to-chaff.

Game Availability
Good Old Games (GOG) now sells Alpha Centauri together with the Alien Crossfire expansion. This version is offered only as a download and is DRM-free (no CD required to play the game).

Your friendly Alpha Centauri moderator,

Petek

 

[Petek]

I'll start off. I started playing SMAC, then SMAX, shortly after the 1999 release. Previously I played Civ and Civ 2. For seven or eight years I played almost every day. I don't play as much any more, but I do hang out here at CivFanatics all the time. Over the years, I've helped lots of players with installation issues, in-game crashes and other technical problems. SMAC/SMAX is still my all-time favorite game.

Petek

 

[vyeh]

@regulars, please make people feel welcome, but try not to drown this thread - ensure that we keep a reasonably high ratio of wheat-to-chaff....

Your friendly Alpha Centauri moderator,

Petek

Petek,

I assume it is OK to introduce myself.

I have been a member of CivFanatics since May 16, 2006. I loved downloading Civ 2 mods.

After not playing Civ 2 for awhile, I decided that it was time to get back into Civ gaming. I had copies of SMAC and SMAX since they came out (originally I bought the Windows version and when I migrated to Mac, I bought the Mac versions at eBay -- at that time the prices weren't high although I have done my part to keep the prices high by buying a couple of backup copies of both games).

So I started playing SMAC. At the time, the Apolyton forum and CivFanatics were the only real game in town. (I also had joined CivGaming at around the same time, but it was declining.)

I started off as a lurker. I started posting when I joined the demogame ACDG3 as it was winding down. I got a chance to be a turnplayer. (I was the last one, but it wasn't my fault the Data Angels surrendered to the Spartans!)

After ACDG3 finished, I started posting at Apolyton. I would get these messages from Illuminatus, saying I was too scared of the moderators. He encouraged me to post more.

I organized some more demogames, ACDG4, ACDG5 and ACDG6, which at times was a big portion of the activity at the Apolyton General forum.

I also participated actively in the Apolyton Creation forum.

I did occasionally post at CivFanatics, but the regulars at CivFanatics tended to post threads like "1000 reasons you know you are playing too much SMAC" and I was much more interested in the strategy discussions at Apolyton.

In the spring of 2009, Apolyton underwent a management change with DanQ leaving and Robert Plomp arriving. Coincidentally, the last regular at CivFanatics left.

In the late spring and early summer of 2009, I got into forum building in a major way, creating a multiplayer forum at a fourth site and working with another member to reenergize this forum.

I also got a moderatorship at CivGaming to move a project from Apolyton.

I check here daily and encourage new SMAC players to post here. I like the moderation policies at CivFanatics and I like Petek.

I believe that this forum has great potential and that if you stay and post here, you will have a very good experience.

regards,
vyeh

 

[Kilkakon]

Hey everybody, I'm Kilkakon, and totally wanting five posts so I can PM.

I found this place using Google ages ago when I was into Civ2. Civ2's still awesome, I have made a few modpacks for it but never released them.

I have always liked Alpha Centuari, although both Dad and I agreed that something was wrong with it that stopped it from being as big as Civ was. We both couldn't figure out what though... it's weird. I still love the game though, especially the way diplomacy was done, it's almost like talking to real people. Social engineering is awesome too, and the ease of adding custom factions. I think that we all have made our first faction: way overpowered and imbalanced but fun.

So yeah. Hi.

 

[hambino]

Hey, -my- first custom faction wasn't -insanely- overpowered and imbalanced.

I started with the techs first. Now -those- were overpowered.

I made one that pretty much did EVERYTHING at tier 5. It was awesome being denied repeatedly in my attempts to corner the global energy market when I was still using synthmetal laser squads.

I'm a complete newbie to the forum as I write this - main reason I'm here is for some guidance in my own custom faction creation - I've found that through modding games and chatting with people with a lot of experience in modding games, I develop a better understanding of the game's systems faster than if I just did nothing but play the game - the creature of habit that I am.

 

[StrikerX22]

Hey there, I haven't touched other Sid Meier games, but this seems like a decent place. I first started with simple AC back in the day, played a lot, and without any instructions I *think*... then got Crossfire quite a bit later and had a the tech map and the instruction books, played a bunch more. Occasionally had a friend willing enough to put up with my long turn times. I started messing with new factions and social models and such, but I lost my hard drive contents at one point and all I had were notes on the former two mentioned.

I've recently got back into Crossfire after finding my old buried notes on those custom changes... It made me want to start again from scratch. I've since been playing with my gf here and there, no changes for a bit, and now beta testing some of what I've done (no factions yet, though aversions off to try out new social models).

I found this place via google while looking for... something...?... a little while ago and then again now while looking into whether AI could be edited/improved or not. I'll take the Build/Conquer (possibly explore?) suggestion to heart probably. While it's my play style, I hate seeing comps not build anything that makes them more powerful over time.

Anyhow, I'll prolly post my pack at some point if possible, get feedback from veterans since I've had little multiplayer experience. I can at least hold my own in Transcend now it seems. Whee. Feels like more a bother than anything, over playing Talent/Librarian's drone counts.

 

[JoeMacUnGee]

For the life of me, I can't understand why SM never put out a second version (updated, of course) of AC and AX. Could you imagine how slick such a game would look with modern graphics?

 

[Alcedine]

Ehh, disregard the following. I found multiplayer games at weplayciv. I'd delete this post, but apparently that's not allowed, so I'll just leave it here to wither away :I

Hi hi.

I've had this game since I was nine or so. It's been on and off of my computer through formats and reformats, the CD has been lost and found multiple times and over the course of the years, and the tech tree poster has been battered into oblivion, lost, sought fruitlessly and then mourned after. And after what now exceeds ten years, I can still sink countless hours into it. I don't think any other game has grown on me so much. Fallout 2 comes close.

In any case, I recently installed it again after a long break. Now it's been one big, albeit intermittent, binge. I've never once played a genuine multiplayer game, though. I'm still developing in my gameplay skills - I have varying levels of success at Transcend - and at the moment I'm thinking a lot and taking time with my turns - but I can just learn out of it and do things quick-like, if anyone is up for a game (and tolerant about me being an incompetent now and then). Though I'd prefer a couple of hours at a time live sessions, PBEM is of course another possibility (though it takes forever). Apparently Hamachi is the standard for simulating LAN over the internet, so we can use that.

Is anyone interested in this? We could start with a tiny map game, just to test things out; I'd be willing to play even with just one person and five AI players.

Come on, I know you want to. Besides, the drones need you. They look up to you.

Edit: I'm in Finland, by the way, so for USA people we'd need to make it work with time zones. Should be doable.

 

[Frankincense]

Hi, everyone! I've been lurking around here, learning many things from you! But I just registered lol.

I've played SMAC since the day of its release,and it has never left my PC except when I format it.
SMAC is easily my most favorite game of all time. IMO it's otherworldly and science-fictiony. That's why Firaxis could unleash and put all their creativity and imagination into creating this fine gem, unlike CIV, for which they couldn't stray from reality and real world history too much. And SMAC is really neat. ...how should I put this? ...They didn't ignore the smallest detail of the game. I always feel like I could learn something new no matter how much I already knew.
But don't get me wrong. CIV is also my favorite game of all time!

I've played like hundred games of SMAC and I have problem with transcend difficulty no more. But I've never played with humans before. I know they're much harder than the predictable AIs. Maybe we could play together when we've a chance. I know there are many hidden fans of SMAC out there! Show yourselves!

P.S. I like every faction in the game. But I usually play with Zakharov or Domai.
P.P.S. I like the satiric conversation during the diplomacy very much.

@Joe: Yep a remake with enhanced AI should be nice.

@Alcedine: lol count me in! But IDK how to set up a multiplayer game though.

 

[Jerrymander]

I started playing SMAC last year. I'd played Civ2 a lot from 1999 until around 2004, and then I got back into Civ with Civ4 (I didn't get into Civ3). I always preferred ethereal, non-terran settings, and I really liked the SMAC unit creation (I was turned off by GalCiv2's complexity) and government system. I play SMAC sometimes now, but it's a little awkward because it's dated.

I'm also pants at it.

 

[creamcheese]

I originally played SMAC when I was a kid, my dad bought it when it came out for mac. I never really got into it, mostly because I was too young to understand a lot of the game. I dusted off the CD about 4 years ago and discovered a classic! SMAC has quickly become one of my favorite games of all time, and I still play regularly.

Cheers,
-creamcheese

 

[KaiserElectric]

Hey guys. I just tried the Planetfall Mod for Civ 4, and my next immediate thought was "I must get Alpha Centauri or die trying." I'm going to try and get this game as soon as possible. If anyone knows where I can get it, the help is appreciated.

 

[Petek]

Howdy electric926!

You can find Alpha Centauri and the Alien Crossfire expansion, for example, on Amazon. See my first post in this thread for more information. Also, check your PMs.

Petek

EDIT: You might want to give Maniac some positive feedback about Planetfall.

 

[sendos]

Welcome all.

I'm back after a year of silence.

 

[suedanim]

Just checking in as well. I started out playing Civ III...for years and Warlords expansion pac, then found Alpha Centauri and played that for years, LOVING IT.. Moved on the Civ IV and warlords, Beyond the Sword and Colonization expansion pacs.. Now I'm going got install my old Alpha Centauri game on this new computer. Love that game and wish they'd create a new one, but structured like this one.

 

[splunge the 2nd]

Hi all. I'm a regular in the Civ 3 forums and on the reccommendation of a friend, just ordered SMAC. He ays it's head and shoulders above the civ series-yet to be seen.
Is there a good intro/tutorial to SMAC for the novice?

 

[sendos]

Hi all. I'm a regular in the Civ 3 forums and on the reccommendation of a friend, just ordered SMAC. He ays it's head and shoulders above the civ series-yet to be seen.
Is there a good intro/tutorial to SMAC for the novice?

There are some tutorials located in the senarios section. Also, there are some tutorial popups which appear everytime you start a new game. For example, if you create a formers unit, a tutorial popup will appear about it. If it has the button "tour", that means it has more to tell you. There will also be popups recommending where you should build a base, but I wouldn't really follow their advice in this case. My tutorial to you would be to build bases on resources (nutrients, minerals and energy) and make sure you provide some space between each city or it will hurt your cities' growth in the future.

Enjoy the game.

 

[splunge the 2nd]

Thanks Sendos!

 

[Bulbaceous]

I'm new around here, but been playing Civ/Smac/x off and on for a long time.
All of the civ games are great, but Alpha Centauri will always win in my mind.

I like how Civ 4 has quotes for new techs, but it's just not quite the same as Alpha Centauri. A remake would be cool, but if it never happens I will be just fine with the originals.

edit...
I usually don't post much because I never know what to say. Most of the time I just enjoy reading the discussions. (Or maybe I'm just afraid of all those posters who try and make you feel dumb for something you said in the forum ) Who knows? But if I really do have something to add I'll join in and add my thoughts.

 

[valavir]

Hello y'all, I recently registered here in the hopes someone could help me with a problem i'm having with my copy of alpha centauri.

As for my background, I was really into civilization 2: the test of time when I was a kid for some reason, i'm pretty sure that was the worst expansion of the series. I've played every single civilization game that's been made, and used to play sim city too (I played it a WHOLE lot when I was younger, not so much now).

I've played alpha centauri before, I think the various faction leaders really make it stand out from most other civ-like games. I mostly plan on lurking and trying out mods for alpha centauri.