Contemplating a remake

[elderK]

Hey there, people!

I'm a long time fan of Sid Meier's Civilization series and a newly converted
Alpha Centauri diehard.

But, as much as I love the game, it's easy to see how incredibly aged it is
becoming.

In terms of it's interface (how some things are performed, resolutions that
the game supports, whether windowed mode is built-in or not), platform
support (Loki's AC port for Linux is virtually nonexistent, likewise for the
Macintosh. In either case, if you own the Windows version, shelling out up
to $100 just in order to play... is a little... lame).

It'd be awefully neat, I thought, if AC featured a few refinements that
were introduced later in SM's games. Such as "(Road|Irrigate) to"-style actions,
"Plant (Jungle|Whatever...)". Gosh, that alone would make AC far less... well,
maniacal later in the game .

There are all kinds of little tweaks that could be made (Waypoints, anyone?).

Anywho, I want to keep this as short as I can. So, to wrap this up...

Lately, I've been seriously considering starting work on a reasonably minimal
clone of Alpha Centauri. To check whether such an effort would be worthwhile,
I scanned the 'net and found that I wasn't alone in my desires for a modernized
version.

In any case, if anyone is interested in assisting such an effort, let me know.
For obvious reasons, I'd prefer contact from those with technical talents.
Artists, Programmers, Designers.

For those hoping to help with the actual programming of the clone, be warned:
You must have experience with C/C++, SDL and perhaps OpenGL. Likewise,
being familiar with the various platforms would be helpful.

Programmers who message me, are expected to be familiar with /at least/ the
basic data structures (lists, trees, hashes and the like).

And about me? I'm just a crazy hacker who gets a buzz from sinking my
enemies...

Heheheh, the world's just a little flooded, it's still good, it's still good...

~K

 

[Maniac]

Instead of coding something from scratch, it would be much less work to make a SMAC remake as a mod for Civ4.

There have been quite a few attempts at SMAC mods, and even an attempt for a new game from scratch (Stella Polaris), but the only one that hasn't died out but is still going strong, is the Planetfall mod.

It does not attempt to be a clone however, so you might not like it.

 

[elderK]

It'd be worthwhile work.

I'm all for mods and, I've seen (watched even) Planetfall.

But there will be many things that gave Alpha Centauri it's charm that aren't
likely to be implemented within Civilization IV. At least, as far Planetfall's FAQ
mentions.

The design workshop or The Council being decent examples.

Just to be clear here, I'm not bashing the efforts of the Planetfall team, not at all.
It's just, what about people who don't have the hardware to enjoy Civ4? What
about those who simply want to play a modern AC but who do not own Civ4 or,
who run some UNIX variant?

As for Stella Polaris, I'd love to learn more about that project.
I read somewhere that the reason it fell was due to lack of manpower?

Offtopic but, man, just won as the Peacekeepers. ^_^ Was frikin' awesome.
~K

 

[Sub]

A freeciv like game would be awesome

 

[The_Reckoning]

Reverse engineer the original, release the source code, fix all the bugs, revamp the UI and build a new graphics engine over the top.

 

[Sexymindworm]

please leave the game alone.... tampering will totally make a classic into a non classic.

 

[_random_]

I've got zero technical talent, but I'd be willing to assist as a tester or whatever.

 

[vyeh]

fix all the bugs

I'd be willing to assist as a tester or whatever.

Maybe the two of you would be interested in this.