Request for Alpha Centauri
- Thread starter Ironfoot
- Start date
lord_eru
Chieftain
An Alpha Centauri mod would be excellent.
I thought about it a few months ago, but I didn't try anything due to possible copyright issues. I was thinking of importing the art files from SMAC into Civ4. In essence, I was thinking of porting SMAC into Civ4. Apart from the copyright issues, we would have everything we need to create a mod.
I thought about it a few months ago, but I didn't try anything due to possible copyright issues. I was thinking of importing the art files from SMAC into Civ4. In essence, I was thinking of porting SMAC into Civ4. Apart from the copyright issues, we would have everything we need to create a mod.
I am hard at work on a "remix" of SMAC -- ideas based on SMAC (as well as art "borrowed" from the game). The official community of SMAC-recreationists are over at Apolyton, but my personal intent is not to remake SMAC but capture the flavor.
One reason I am doing this as a "remix" is to avoid serious (c) issues. If other modders here are able to do Star Wars and Harry Potter, I don't see how a game loosely based on SMAC would be a problem. Sure, for now I'm borrowing some graphics and whatnot, but my intent is actually to replace all of them as we develop a community of developers (!) and get something really new, but using SMAC as a springboard of ideas.
If you're interested, please PM me. I'm hoping to release a "concept mod" this week. (However, I'm going away from Wed -> Sun so I may wait until next week, as I'd like to be around to answer questions).
To anyone else who's interested, some questions:
* What is it that you love most about SMAC?
* What were some of the more annoying aspects?
One reason I am doing this as a "remix" is to avoid serious (c) issues. If other modders here are able to do Star Wars and Harry Potter, I don't see how a game loosely based on SMAC would be a problem. Sure, for now I'm borrowing some graphics and whatnot, but my intent is actually to replace all of them as we develop a community of developers (!) and get something really new, but using SMAC as a springboard of ideas.
If you're interested, please PM me. I'm hoping to release a "concept mod" this week. (However, I'm going away from Wed -> Sun so I may wait until next week, as I'd like to be around to answer questions).
To anyone else who's interested, some questions:
* What is it that you love most about SMAC?
* What were some of the more annoying aspects?
GeoModder
Deity
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2005
- Messages
- 7,512
Padmewan said:
Really? Nice going!
And will more then one improvement/tile be possible in this "remix"?
Padmewan said:
The factions setup, the workshop, social engineering, terraforming,...
Padmewan said:
Definitely the overpowered chop-and-drop combo.
Teaser:
What if the Unity never reached the Alpha Centauri A system but ended up crashing into an unknown planet circling Alpha Centauri B? Expecting a lush Eden, they instead discover a freezing hell in which they must rewrite the rules of survival -- from governance to sociology to economics to their very nature as a species. And why, exactly, was this an unknown planet until now... and what secrets does it hold?
I'll try to post a screenshot of the tech tree tonight as a second teaser.
What if the Unity never reached the Alpha Centauri A system but ended up crashing into an unknown planet circling Alpha Centauri B? Expecting a lush Eden, they instead discover a freezing hell in which they must rewrite the rules of survival -- from governance to sociology to economics to their very nature as a species. And why, exactly, was this an unknown planet until now... and what secrets does it hold?
I'll try to post a screenshot of the tech tree tonight as a second teaser.
@ GeoModder -- I'm only just delving into Python now, so I haven't yet touched aspects like terraforming, though I am secure in the knowledge that others have done so successfully. It may end up being possible to have 2 improvements per tile by using a buildable feature (e.g. forest) as improvement 1 and improvement (e.g. lumbermill) as improvement 2, but I'm not sure I want to follow SMAC that faithfully, as I'm not sure what being able to do so adds to gameplay. (Other than the fact that my analogue to fungus is a feature, and so far only improvements, not features, benefit from technology and civic choices as the game progresses).
I'm playing around with a potentially interesting (or disasterous) replacement for religions right now that, I hope, captures some of the flavor of SMAC but in other ways totally re-writes the rules.
Game balance has been a major issue. I've only done work on the "ancient" era, and so far it's a bit dull -- perhaps because I've not implemented most bonuses yet. My imagination runs only so deep, so I'll be glad to release this into the wild, so to speak.
As for my own answers to the questions I posed:
I love the storyline, the atmosphere of the game, and at least the first few times I played, the feeling of discovery that the interludes and scripted events provided. I love Planet as a character; I love learning to talk with her. (You can tell I played Diedre heavily). I love the depth of the backstory and "forward story" that's revealed in parts as you read and listen to the quotes associated with the techs and facilities. (For example, the "official" story seems to involve some kind of Gaian-Spartan conflict that the Gaians win).
I liked civics and thought the concept of having civics that, in turn, pulled levers on the "master character" of your faction was a neat mechanic. Civ4 went halfway there and trades off between flexibility and specificity (you can do things with the civics system in Civ4 you can't do in SMAC, but if you try running off the road things can get hard, fast).
I thought probe teams had more potential than was used, and am glad to see spies back in Civ4, albeit without any new features. I would like to explore the idea of multi-arena warfare and how to have a fun game running a "cold" war.
I wasn't so hot on the workshop myself, as I found it tedious, though the first few times it was certainly fun to create colonizing needlejets.
I think one problem was that there were too many weapons upgrades -- something that Civ4 handles well, up until the turns roll by too quickly at the end.
I also didn't like how the game seemed to bog down starting in the mid-game. I think that may have more to do with the need to micro-manage units than anything else, though Civ4 improves on the tech tree concept over both SMAC and Civ3, IMHO. I think Civ4 also has the better concepts around building specialized cities rather than spamming.
Finally, as someone invested in the game storyline I think there needed to be more explanation for why a faction could figure out how to map the genetic sequence but not know how to build boats or planes -- or, eventually, to contact Earth.
I'm playing around with a potentially interesting (or disasterous) replacement for religions right now that, I hope, captures some of the flavor of SMAC but in other ways totally re-writes the rules.
Game balance has been a major issue. I've only done work on the "ancient" era, and so far it's a bit dull -- perhaps because I've not implemented most bonuses yet. My imagination runs only so deep, so I'll be glad to release this into the wild, so to speak.
As for my own answers to the questions I posed:
I love the storyline, the atmosphere of the game, and at least the first few times I played, the feeling of discovery that the interludes and scripted events provided. I love Planet as a character; I love learning to talk with her. (You can tell I played Diedre heavily). I love the depth of the backstory and "forward story" that's revealed in parts as you read and listen to the quotes associated with the techs and facilities. (For example, the "official" story seems to involve some kind of Gaian-Spartan conflict that the Gaians win).
I liked civics and thought the concept of having civics that, in turn, pulled levers on the "master character" of your faction was a neat mechanic. Civ4 went halfway there and trades off between flexibility and specificity (you can do things with the civics system in Civ4 you can't do in SMAC, but if you try running off the road things can get hard, fast).
I thought probe teams had more potential than was used, and am glad to see spies back in Civ4, albeit without any new features. I would like to explore the idea of multi-arena warfare and how to have a fun game running a "cold" war.
I wasn't so hot on the workshop myself, as I found it tedious, though the first few times it was certainly fun to create colonizing needlejets.
I think one problem was that there were too many weapons upgrades -- something that Civ4 handles well, up until the turns roll by too quickly at the end.I also didn't like how the game seemed to bog down starting in the mid-game. I think that may have more to do with the need to micro-manage units than anything else, though Civ4 improves on the tech tree concept over both SMAC and Civ3, IMHO. I think Civ4 also has the better concepts around building specialized cities rather than spamming.
Finally, as someone invested in the game storyline I think there needed to be more explanation for why a faction could figure out how to map the genetic sequence but not know how to build boats or planes -- or, eventually, to contact Earth.
GeoModder said:
I've played one of the versions of the MoonMod and certainly see the potential. I feel kinda guilty that in some ways I'm jumping the gun here to Mars -- albeit, a potentially intelligent and definitely hostile Mars.
While my mod is actually playable (with some weird bugs, but I've hunted down the really fatal ones) I've got a lot more ideas than I have time for implementation, so I'm looking forward to sharing it with the community... soon...
Gunner
Emperor
I'm pretty sure the guys at apolyton are working on a full scale conversion. Not sure how its progressing though.
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