Affinities Explained in Sid Meier’s Civilization: Beyond Earth

[Ga1Friday]

Just what are Affinities and how do they apply to Civilization: Beyond Earth? We figured that the best people to ask were Firaxis developers working on the game, and so we sent some of the most frequently asked questions about Affinities and had CO-Lead Designers Will Miller and David McDonough provide answers. You can read everything in this blog post.

Check out the post and talk about how you think the Affinity system will play a part in your Civ:BE strategies!

(this is a repost from the 2K Forums)

 

[Fabio1701]

"dramatic terraforming": music to my ears!

"I know a couple of people around the office who find the Purity Affinity almost cult-like, while others see the value of keeping Earth history alive in an alien world": since to see that there are different takes on an affinity.

"even create a hybrid of Affinities": wait what?! oooooh.... coooool.... how would this effect graphical representation of units? Will it effect that or the look of you cities and units will just be what affinity the majority of your choices are?

"The planet and other factions will influence you.You will change or you will be changed." sounds like there will be some mechanic of being surrounded by other affinities, maybe a happiness/culture influence? Could this force a revolution?

"any and all Marines deployed on the planet will receive the new upgrade as soon as you choose it. ": excellent! no more mindless upgrading every single damn unit independently.

"Two Supremacy Marines facing off will not be on equal footing. "

 

[AriochIV]

"any and all Marines deployed on the planet will receive the new upgrade as soon as you choose it. ": excellent! no more mindless upgrading every single damn unit independently.

Before you could have different units specialized for different roles; now you must specialize all your units for the same role. Not sure that's an improvement.

 

[Liex]

Kate, these blog entries are great, thanks for sharing!

...But if they could be illustrated with some example screenshots or concept art, they'd be awesome!

 

[Fabio1701]

Before you could have different units specialized for different roles; now you must specialize all your units for the same role. Not sure that's an improvement.

I'm guessing that unit specialization comes in the form of there being a difference between a marine, paratrooper, infantryman, etc. There is some kind of unit workshop afterall. I think (hope) that this means that if I design a marine unit with lasers and I discover phasers, they all upgrade to phasers.

 

[AriochIV]

There is some kind of unit workshop afterall.

I don't think that's the case. The upgrade system itself is there instead of a unit workshop.

One of the favourite features from Alpha Centauri is the unit workshop, which everybody really likes, even though in our opinion the design of that could have been improved, so we did! We decided on a different way to make your army customisable, and also feed back into your affinity, your cultural identity. So you have a catalogue of generic unit types that will upgrade as you level up. As your dominant affinity goes higher you'll be able to stack these guys with perks, with special abilities that are themed to that. Your marines can start out as normal marines, and then you play a little while and they level up to level two marines and you give them the anti-alien perk instead of the anti-city perk, because that's the kind of army you want to field. Then they have more abilities beyond that, so your stock types upgrade throughout the game.

Which is confusing, because many of the screenshots show both level 1 and level 2 marines at the same time. So either the mechanic has been inadequately described, or those screenshots are bullshot. Or maybe what we think are level 1 and level 2 marines (as suggested in the concept) are actually different units.

 

[DemonMaster]

Before you could have different units specialized for different roles; now you must specialize all your units for the same role. Not sure that's an improvement.

Ok, we haven't seen it yet so perhaps we shouldn't assume the worst, but (sadly) this has really gone from, yeah workshops, no well at least customized units through upgrades, no to streamlined armies directly from the assembly line

Well, I will always have Goat Simulator to play I guess

 

[Fabio1701]

Well, there's this quote: "One of the favourite features from Alpha Centauri is the unit workshop, which everybody really likes, even though in our opinion the design of that could have been improved, so we did!" (http://www.weplayciv.com/forums/showthread.php?8416-What-we-know)

If everybody likes the SMAC workshop and they improved on it, but then it's just some affinity Diablo2 tree thing, then it doesn't sound very much like a workshop to me. Gah! now I am confused!

 

[AriochIV]

Well, there's this quote: "One of the favourite features from Alpha Centauri is the unit workshop, which everybody really likes, even though in our opinion the design of that could have been improved, so we did!" (http://www.weplayciv.com/forums/showthread.php?8416-What-we-know)

If everybody likes the SMAC workshop and they improved on it, but then it's just some affinity Diablo2 tree thing, then it doesn't sound very much like a workshop to me. Gah! now I am confused!

That quote is taken out of context. See my edited post above. (The original source of the quote is here.)

 

[Liex]

I'm not familiar with SMAC and its unit workshop, but what does this new upgrade system means for the promotion system (like in Civ V)? If it's still present, wouldn't it allow some differentiation/specialization?

 

[AriochIV]

I'm not familiar with SMAC and its unit workshop, but what does this new upgrade system means for the promotion system (like in Civ V)? If it's still present, wouldn't it allow some differentiation/specialization?

Unless I misunderstand, the new upgrade system replaces the promotion system from Civ V. This is the relevant section from Kate's blog post:

In Civilization V, units would gain experience through combat and eventually get a promotion. You could make your military more powerful by upgrading certain techs and advancing units like Warriors to Spearman. In Beyond Earth, upgrades are tied directly to your devotion to the Affinities in the game.

As you progress down an Affinity, you gain unique upgrades you can’t get under the other affinity lines. Selecting an upgrade applies it to all units of that type. For example, any and all Marines deployed on the planet will receive the new upgrade as soon as you choose it. Upgrades can’t be revisited, so players have to think hard about what they’re willing to give up.

These upgrades help distinguish two factions who share the same Affinity. Two Supremacy Marines facing off will not be on equal footing. Based on the chosen upgrades, one faction’s Marines may have a lot more firepower than the other.

 

[That Other Guy]

It may be that the affinity upgrades are special promotions that work with another promotion system (like the buffalo upgrades from the ikanda in civ5).

 

[Liex]

Unless I misunderstand, the new upgrade system replaces the promotion system from Civ V.

Yeah, it seems to be the case. But I hope there is a reward system of sorts for using troops efficiently and keeping them alive.

 

[AriochIV]

But I hope there is a reward system of sorts for using troops efficiently and keeping them alive.

I agree. I think that unit experience is a valuable incentive that improves play.

 

[Windscion]

Agreed.

 

[Lord Shadow]

The text is ambiguous, but I'd say general affinity-related upgrades are one thing, and conventional, individual experience-provided promotions another. In recent Civs, unit modifiers not only came from battle promotions, but also civilization traits and certain buildings, and the proximity of special units (i.e. Medics, Great Generals). So in all likelihood, affinity modifiers won't supplant promotions. That'd make no sense.

 

[Rakshasa72]

I think there is some flaws in the way exp is implemented in Civ5.

The AI doesn't seem to understand the importance of protecting units long enough to develop experienced units. It also doesn't seem to understand the idea of farming experience.

I generally never build Barracks or any other xp structure early in a Civ5 game because it's just as easy and more productive to get the xp from Barbarians or City States. Not to mention the hard cap on exp from Barbs is kind of a weird hold over since you can get unlimited xp from city states.

 

[Lancor]

I really doubt they would remove promotions. That has been around forever and makes the most sense, gives immersion and adds to strategy depth. Most likely the new upgrade system will be kind of a modular teching. Previously you gained new unit types only through tech. Now you get them mostly through affinities in combination with tech. This not only creates much more unit diversity but it also brings new dynamics to the game. Now you can complete quests for example to unlock new units instead of only research them.

 

[Karl0413]

Well this interesting, we can create a hybrid of Affinities. Considering the affinities are tied to the possible victory conditions you can shoot for...does that mean equally dabbling in Purity and Supremacy means you have the option of simultaneously pulling new colonists off earth and settling them colony-side while at the same time sending troops to seize control of Earth?

Come join our great colonial society! Free land as far as the eye can see! Certainly much better than staying in your old Earth home! Especially when our cyber-panzers start rolling down Main Street!

 

[Rakshasa72]

Well this interesting, we can create a hybrid of Affinities. Considering the affinities are tied to the possible victory conditions you can shoot for...does that mean equally dabbling in Purity and Supremacy means you have the option of simultaneously pulling new colonists off earth and settling them colony-side while at the same time sending troops to seize control of Earth?

Come join our great colonial society! Free land as far as the eye can see! Certainly much better than staying in your old Earth home! Especially when our cyber-panzers start rolling down Main Street!

That kind of reminds me of the Phillip K. Dick story "The Unteleported Man". Hopefully they read some PKD in preparing for this game.