SMAC 2, what are the odds?

[Elsewhere Adv]

It's been over 10 years now and I'm sure most SMAC fans have it in the back of their minds for a sequel. But with EA still holding the rights to the game and Firaxis splintered from them and the fact that Brian Reynolds left Firaxis, what are the actual odds of a SMAC 2?

Is there some equation that we can factor this game into to give a likely hood of percentage of getting a new game? I doubt it.

I want to hear some opinions on the future outlook of a SMAC2 so I can put this old heart that keeps hoping to rest.

 

[vyeh]

I sent you a PM.

I'd say the chances of a SMAC 2 are not high because SMAC was not a commercial blockbuster and the expansion SMAX was a commercial failure.

 

[Russia4Life]

As much as I'd like to see an Alpha Centauri 2, I doubt it will ever happen. Although, I used to think the same way about one of my favorite games ever, Starcraft, which came out in 1998 and they are now working on a sequel for it. So, I guess anything is possible.

 

[Jack Hawksmoor]

If you want something akin to SMAC 2, try Planetfall mod if you have Civ4.

 

[zsozso]

I think the chances are somewhere between slim to none.
Although, I'd love to be wrong about this

 

[GooglyBoogly]

Sadly, I agree with everyone else. Pretty much no chance on an official smac2

 

[Buster's Uncle]

Wouldn't it be sweet, though?


...Or would it end up being be more like Star War fans feel about the prequel movies?

 

[vyeh]

I guess it would depend on who did it. I didn't like the way the programmer's botched making the expansion mod friendly (there are things that are hard coded). If only Brian Reynolds could do the sequel ...

 

[Buster's Uncle]

Brian is a must if it's to be good, I think.

Wasn't CivIII done without Sid Meiers' participation?

 

[vyeh]

The official name of Civ III is Sid Meier's Civilization III.

From the the Wikipedia:

Unlike the original game, Civ III was not designed by Sid Meier, but by Jeff Briggs, a game designer, and Soren Johnson, a game programmer.

Unlike, SMAC, where Sid Meier's is the designer:

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (sometimes abbreviated to SMAC or Alpha Centauri) is a 4X turn-based strategic computer game created by Brian Reynolds and Sid Meier under the auspices of Firaxis Games in 1999.

In the 50th Polycast episode, Sid Meier's said:

Well, Alpha Centauri really was a Brian Reynolds design.

The concept was to take a lot of the ideas that worked well in Civilization and place them in a Science Fiction setting.

And I think that allowed Brian to really introduce some new ideas that were a lot of fun.

It was an experiment to see where the basic Civ ideas could go and how it would work in a different setting.

People really enjoyed that game. We still hear about people who would like to see another Alpha Centauri.

So I think in a lot of way it was a success. It kind of allowed us to stretch Civ in some new and interesting ways while keeping, hopefully, the one more turn going.

So that is why I would love to see a Brian Reynold's "Alpha Centauri 2" and I don't care about whether there is a "Sid Meier's" in front of it.

As much as I respect Sid Meier's as a game designer, I think the fact that SMAC still has a following has to be due to Brian Reynolds.

 

[Buster's Uncle]

Maybe we need both.

 

[vyeh]

But since they no longer work for the same company, its one or the other if AC 2 ever comes out.

 

[Buster's Uncle]

Since we're speculating, is there any reason for Firaxis not to team up with Big Huge Games on a project? Did anything ever come out besides Brian going off to do his own thing?

 

[Jack Hawksmoor]

Sorry to break in, but someone should check him email inbox already. (PMing does not work here )

 

[vyeh]

Well, there are always problems of profit sharing and different cultures when two companies team up. I think Big Huge Games produced Rise of Nations:

Rise of Nations is a real-time strategy computer game, developed by Big Huge Games and published by Microsoft on May 20, 2003. The development of the game was led by veteran Brian Reynolds, of Civilization II and Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. Concepts taken from turn-based strategy games have been added into the game--including territories and attrition warfare.[3] Rise of Nations features 18 civilizations, playable through 8 ages of world history.
On April 28, 2004, Big Huge Games released Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots, an expansion pack. Later that year, a Gold edition of Rise of Nations was released, which included both the original and the expansion.

 

[Buster's Uncle]

(Who, Uncle Joe? And why are you spamming?)


Well, yeah; two companies complicates things. I was asking if anyone knew if Sid and Brian are on speaking terms or what?

 

[vyeh]

In the 'polycast episode, his tone in speaking about Brian was approving. And he was complimentary about Brian.

 

[Buster's Uncle]

You don't suppose there'd be any point in trying to start an email campaign? Not that they can't make more money making another Civ or anything, but make it "Sid Meier's Civilization: Alpha Centauri II" and it automatically sells ten times as much.

Is there a reason they couldn't now?

 

[vyeh]

I sent a question into Ask Sid asking if there was a followup to the poll two years ago in which a majority voted for a remake of AC.

 

[Buster's Uncle]

You might want to do a follow-up with that adding Civ to the name part worked in. SMAC would have sold just fine if they'd had the rights to the name at the time.