"The nonbeliever" refers to the player, who is always the nonbeliever (unless they, gulp, actually player the Christians, which is an uphill battle). I think you knew that.
EDIT: Unless, of course, you already knew that, and had turned it about onto multiple levels....
Personally, I'm far more disturbed by religious zealotry, a religious inquisition, and a disdain for all other cultures (consider that all the factions are ethnically diverse, but the Believers are the only ones who are religiously homogenous). By comparison, I can tolerate a police state and a planned economy by comparison--hell, everyone except the Morganites starts out with a planned economy, heh...
The Spartans are awful, as I've complained before, simply because they love war, and they always benefit from it, even whey they lose: in conquering them, you've done nothing but scatter their precious artillery piece collection and conquered a bunch of starving, malnourished, undeveloped cities. The Hive's are genuises of civil planning by comparison. The Spartans suck at it, and they know they do, so they have very little to lose against a "non-aggressive", even player run, faction, in their minds.
"The nonbeliever" refers to the player, who is always the nonbeliever (unless they, gulp, actually player the Christians, which is an uphill battle). I think you knew that.
Personally, I'm far more disturbed by religious zealotry, a religious inquisition, and a disdain for all other cultures (consider that all the factions are ethnically diverse, but the Believers are the only ones who are religiously homogenous). By comparison, I can tolerate a police state and a planned economy by comparison--hell, everyone except the Morganites starts out with a planned economy, heh...
The Spartans are awful, as I've complained before, simply because they love war, and they always benefit from it, even whey they lose: in conquering them, you've done nothing but scatter their precious artillery piece collection and conquered a bunch of starving, malnourished, undeveloped cities. The Hive's are genuises of civil planning by comparison. The Spartans suck at it, and they know they do, so they have very little to lose against a "non-aggressive", even player run, faction, in their minds.
See, I don't see the Spartans as anything but annoying, and in my experience they were usually bright enough to realize when they were outgunned. Ideologically, they're extremist Libertarians, and if they invite me to exercise some 2nd amendment rights in their direction, I consider it a compliment ... and decent target practice. That and you KNOW Santiago loooooves the Punishment Sphere.
Not to turn this into a Debate & Discourse thread, but I don't see the Believers as different from any other faction. They're extremists in their particular ideology, their ideology just happens to be religious. It's not ethnic, it's not even necessarily cultural (although they didn't do any favors to them by making Miriam a fellow ginger). Then again, as a Lutheran, I'm reasonably well-versed in the history of religious inquisitions (Catholics) and religious zealotry (most of the Baptists I hung out with in high school), and disdain for other cultures, believe me, has nothing to do with creed. I know that all oppression conducted in the name of the church is inherently heresy, if not worse.
The Hive, however, make me shudder. There's a marked difference in my mind between, "read my book" and "this is the s#!t job you WILL do, this is the s#!t food you WILL eat, and if we feel you need to die for the 'good of the society,' well, nice knowin' ya! You are a number, a drone, a cog, and if you aspire to greatness, too bad - pick up the wrench and get back to work." I love renaming their colonies after I capture them. Stuff like, "Parliament Funkadelic," and "No-Firewall Warrens."
You were younger back then, so mistakes were easier to make.
There's no better feeling than having the Christians surrender to you.
I stand by my original statement.
Besides, theologically, surrendering is what Christians are supposed to do. I had no problems beating down Miriam, because she was obviously theologically deficient. She was, in fact, a heretic herself.
If Christianity had done that in the middle ages, it would have gone the way of Zoroastrianism. I.e., beat the crap out of by other religions that have less of a problem with the whole 'thou shalt not kill' deal.
Turn the other cheek is not a commandment to lie down and get murdered. There wouldn't be any Christians left if that was the case.
What most people don't understand is that even in religious wars there is usually a heavy political undercurrent. As an example, the Crusades were not about forcing people to convert, it was a retailation to another, aggressive, expansive rival culture that very much fits the mold of Alpha Centauri. There were even native, Christian political factions such as Armenia that were allies of Crusaders. You had cross alliances between various Muslim and Christian powers, and all manner of real politik beyond ignorant peasants with pitchforks most people tend to assume the middle ages were like.
"People believe differently than me! I'm gonna murder them!" is a childish way of looking at history, since 99% of the time, the real causes of war, clashes of civilizations, religions, etc, are far more complex and interesting.
If Christianity had done that in the middle ages, it would have gone the way of Zoroastrianism. I.e., beat the crap out of by other religions that have less of a problem with the whole 'thou shalt not kill' deal.
Turn the other cheek is not a commandment to lie down and get murdered. There wouldn't be any Christians left if that was the case.
What most people don't understand is that even in religious wars there is usually a heavy political undercurrent. As an example, the Crusades were not about forcing people to convert, it was a retailation to another, aggressive, expansive rival culture that very much fits the mold of Alpha Centauri. There were even native, Christian political factions such as Armenia that were allies of Crusaders. You had cross alliances between various Muslim and Christian powers, and all manner of real politik beyond ignorant peasants with pitchforks most people tend to assume the middle ages were like.
"People believe differently than me! I'm gonna murder them!" is a childish way of looking at history, since 99% of the time, the real causes of war, clashes of civilizations, religions, etc, are far more complex and interesting.
I'm sure you understand I wasn't talking about capitulation, I was talking about the finer points of Christian theology vis-a-vis political powers ("Submit to the authorities, wherever you are...") and trying to be brief about it.
Not to turn this into a Debate & Discourse thread, but I don't see the Believers as different from any other faction. They're extremists in their particular ideology, their ideology just happens to be religious. It's not ethnic, it's not even necessarily cultural (although they didn't do any favors to them by making Miriam a fellow ginger). Then again, as a Lutheran, I'm reasonably well-versed in the history of religious inquisitions (Catholics) and religious zealotry (most of the Baptists I hung out with in high school), and disdain for other cultures, believe me, has nothing to do with creed. I know that all oppression conducted in the name of the church is inherently heresy, if not worse.
The Hive, however, make me shudder. There's a marked difference in my mind between, "read my book" and "this is the s#!t job you WILL do, this is the s#!t food you WILL eat, and if we feel you need to die for the 'good of the society,' well, nice knowin' ya! You are a number, a drone, a cog, and if you aspire to greatness, too bad - pick up the wrench and get back to work." I love renaming their colonies after I capture them. Stuff like, "Parliament Funkadelic," and "No-Firewall Warrens."
Much of what the Hive do--for example, "You will do this job, because I say so!" is, surprise, largely and exactly what the other factions do, both practically (okay, I don't need this many talents anymore. Get back to work, proles) and thematically (as demonstrated by the experiments with Mind worms and industry). All the factions reserve their right to force people to do things they would absolutely deplore and hate when strategic concerns come to play.
The Believers are not "Read my book"--they are "Read my book, believe as I do, or else." They value purity of consciousness, and that's goddamn scary--more so than the other factions, who are largely interested in ensuring their will is followed over purity of thought. The Hive are a compromise between compulsion and ideological conversion--they are, after all, support to be the manifestation of legalism. Everyone just calls them "communists", because most westerners have never heard of Chinese Legalism, which predates Mao, Sun, Chiang by two millenia. Firaxis did their research, even if it is a shame that it was lost on the audience--Yang actually demonstrates the importance of the clear, written law (as expansion and invasive as it is), the legitimacy presented by the elite, and the importance of tactics and method (which can override the previous two aspects). The literally revolutionary social engineering he seeks (though doesn't necessarily reach) wouldn't be necessarily if he just wanted a command economy and society run like a birth-control wheel, since the factions all start out as such.
The Believers are different, They are far more interested in your "soul"--and in the world of Psi and mind worms, the soul means the most invasive part of your consciousness. They're not hypocritical enough to say, "Hey, who cares if no one believes any of this stuff." That's fucked up. As an atheist, I can still appreciate that people hold their faiths learned from their families or old communities, dearly. The Believers are by far the most invasive of the factions in this regard--content of consciousness matters to them more than others. "You will eat this food, you will do this...." are all things done by all the factions to varying degrees, and practically universally in the early game. Even the Morganites have an economy far more planned than most capitalist or moderately capitalist states that exist today.
The three tenants of legalism mean that the Hive is absolutely interested in influencing the mind (legitimacy and method), but the sort of soul deterimation that the Believers chase just creeps me the fuck right out. Thank God they do fear technology, or they'd use mind worms and implants to ensure a perfect level of piety for their entire population immediately, I'd wager. Of course, their effectiveness and dedication to this cause means it actually works (hence their moral bonus), to their credit--though the inability to question not just their leaders but the basics of life on Planet really does fuck up their research levels. "Hey, have you noticed that the fungus seems to be breathing?" "Nope, Jesus did it." "Well, perhaps, but I think if we take samples." "Fine, I'll burn you as a heretic, are you happy now?"
As for the Spartans, I've actually been conscripted, so I can say confidently that it sucks out loud. It particularly sucks out loud in a society that otherwise advertises itself as "the most free" otherwise, I'll wager. In actuality, they express a sort of situation that can be interpretted as hypocrisy of a sort: the police state question. The Spartans and their police state is one of those unanswered questions from the game itself, I think, unless it was covered elsewhere? Their citizenry is publicly encouraged to own guns, and yet, they're society not only happily relies on having a direct police state like the Hive, but in "normal" times, their society steers towards police actions anyway. Contrary to popular belief, the public can have guns in a dictatorship--the elite merely need to guarantee that their supporters have the best guns and the most of them. Take the Spartan Federation in most of my games--constantly at war with their neighbors, their infrastructure suffering from the fact, their citizenry armed to the teeth, and yet totally unable to influence their government short of storming the legislature with machineguns: the Spartan Federation is Iraq, between the Iran-Iraq war and the Second Gulf War, right down to the everyman owning an assault rifle and the depleted state still being largely unchecked in any respect.
And now, for no particular reason, my personal order of what faction I would want to live in, from most to least:
1. Gaians. I'm not a huge hippy but it seems like it would be a pretty chill place to live. Loss of freedom in what you can buy and stuff like that but probably could social programs and such.
2. Peacekeepers. Same as Gaians pretty much. More likely to get horribly conquered and Lal can be a jerk sometimes.
3. University. The fact that they get more drones makes me worry that I'd end up as someones experiment.
4. Believers. I'm already Christian, just gotta hope I'm not a heretical Christian.
5. Spartans. If you don't get killed during your military service its probably alright to live there.
6. Morgan Industries. Probably more theoretical freedom but a lot less practical. Hopefully I'd be able to find a nice job and be alright. More likely be born poor and get paid in company scrip working in the spore mines.
7. Hive. Waaay down at the bottom. Soviet Russia in spaaaaaace.
Edit: The problem with the believers is there is a big dissonance between how they act in game, and how miriam is presented in quotes.
* The righteous need not cower before the drumbeat of human progress. Though the song of yesterday fades into the challenge of tomorrow, God still watches and judges us. Evil lurks in the datalinks as it lurked in the streets of yesteryear. But it was never the streets that were evil.
o Sister Miriam Godwinson, "A Blessed Struggle"
That really isn't a bad attitude, but in game she comes across more as a racist hillbilly type.
This is tricky, but you've got me interested, Neaden.
Most desireable -
Peacekeepers: All the factions have a risk of foreign occupation, but an actual interest in civil management and a working bureaucracy is a good thing, last I checked. A genuine concern for democracy isn't something I'd count against them either.
University: The incredible willingness to dessiminate technology on a harsh alien world does mean a lot for your condition of life--the preservation of your health, your standard of living, or even just knowing what the fuck is going on (outside of guarded experiments). I also tend to be less concerned with other people's moral hang-ups so long as they're not actively murdering me for my organs, so their hands-off sense of ethics is something I could adjust to.
So-so -
Morganites: Given my believes in the responsibility of society, it'd be hard to become a hardcore capitalist. But the way it works is that either I'm an elite, and have a comparitively comfortable life and am quickly reprogrammed into a capitalist, or I'm a proletarian, and my say matters not anyway. Best to hope to capture whatever tiny amount of wealth happens to trickle down.
Less desireable -
Gaians: One too many jokes about running naked in the forest. I've lived in urbanized society almost my entire life, I'd rather not be kicked out into the countryside just because I need to learn how to get along with those brain-raping worms or the poisonous xenofungus. Don't get me wrong, I agree with their concerns, I would just hate having to become one with nature on an alien world with brain-raping worms. Being an elite basically subjugates me to these same concerns.
Hive: I know how legalism works, I know what the state wants, and I don't mind the fact that people in the same society are largely in the same boat as me. My whole family grew up during the White Terror, so I guess I can live through the Pink Terror and keep my mouth shut. And I'd take being forced into a job on a factory floor over being forced into a job that involves blowing other people up ever time the diplomats fail. If I'm among the original Unity colonies, I'm going to end up eating recycled food and fungus unless I was part of a tiny elite in the Morganites, possibly--eating them in front of all my neighbors, who are eating the same thing, is not a major concern of mine. A regimented life, that doesn't involve training to kill other people, is something I can tolerate.
Least desirable -
Spartans: I've been conscripted. I don't need to be conscripted again, and again, and again, when the diplomats fail (since Spartan diplomats probably consist of large, bouncer-like men who try and bash the other diplomats' skulls open on the conference table). Especially for a faction who considers its warmaking ability its primary strength and one of its primary reasons to exist. Nevermind a civil service that couldn't manage their way out of paper bag with both hands and and a compass, and is more interested in building submersible aircraft carriers than paving the roads. And I, quite frankly, do not want to harm another being under any circumstances--even in self-defense, I'd greatly prefer an alternative if it did exist. A warrior culture that glorifies it is not for me.
Believers: I'm not a Christian, so I wouldn't make the cut. And I'm not familiar enough with Christianity to pass as one, so they'd have no trouble hunting me down to be reprogrammed, exiled or killed as a heretic. Not being one of the faith, I don't think I'd appreciate the sense of community either while I was alive. Being in a regular state of war, like with the Spartans, would kind of bite too--though with the Believers, it ends one of two ways: I'm quickly conquered and placed into a new society, or I'm killed really fast. On a side note, I've always been a bit uncomfortable with the particularly fire-and-brimstone of Evangelical rhetoric over Catholic or Anglican rhetoric, which would be a big downer, since I think the Believers are Evangelical Protestants. If the Believers were a Liberation Theology faction, I'd probably be much better off (albeit perhaps still burned as a heretic).
All in all, the Believers would be a really short life. Then again, I'm not considering what actually happens, canonically (as much as their is a canon, in the Firaxis-endorsed novels), following the Unity breakup, which ends much worse for some factions than others.
Gaians: One too many jokes about running naked in the forest. I've lived in urbanized society almost my entire life, I'd rather not be kicked out into the countryside just because I need to learn how to get along with those brain-raping worms or the poisonous xenofungus. Don't get me wrong, I agree with their concerns, I would just hate having to become one with nature on an alien world with brain-raping worms. Being an elite basically subjugates me to these same concerns.
I don't think the believers think you need to be one with nature, just that the humans in this setting fucked earth up enough that everyone on it is dead and our first concern has to be that we don't do that again. I'd picture it more as everything being very high efficiency energy and material wise. No cars, just public transit. Mandatory recycling of all products. That sort of thing.
Gaians: One too many jokes about running naked in the forest. I've lived in urbanized society almost my entire life, I'd rather not be kicked out into the countryside just because I need to learn how to get along with those brain-raping worms or the poisonous xenofungus. Don't get me wrong, I agree with their concerns, I would just hate having to become one with nature on an alien world with brain-raping worms. Being an elite basically subjugates me to these same concerns.
I don't think the believers think you need to be one with nature, just that the humans in this setting fucked earth up enough that everyone on it is dead and our first concern has to be that we don't do that again. I'd picture it more as everything being very high efficiency energy and material wise. No cars, just public transit. Mandatory recycling of all products. That sort of thing.
The Gaians, I assume you mean--I know what you're saying, but the thing is, what you're describing probably applies largely to all the factions as a matter of necessity for upon arrival to Planet, and for a long period aterwards. Hell, even the Morganites might be able to give a few of their top executives limos, but everyone is using the transit system because they're too busy trying to ilk out a life on a harsh, alien world, and those wasted resources are better spent elswhere. All the factions use Recycling Tanks (all of them), the Gaians probably just avoid dumping the excess into the rivers the most often (which is a good thing, but does not directly impact me while I'm trying to not die on Planet, at least not initially). At the same time, a few of the creature comforts (not all of them, but a few) that the other factions enjoy might be unavailable to the Gaians--the type of food they can consume, for example, that might leave me very unhappy. Or acknowledging that occasionally, the population has to be allowed to be "pruned", like a garden, in the interests of population balance (I'd probably more upset about that if I wanted to have lots of children).
Though yeah, obviously, most Gaians live in bases. The notion of coexisting with the mind worms--and the few decades of brain-raping that could very likely entail as that's worked out--is not something I look forward to though. I really don't like mind worms (I'm probably one of the few people who agrees with Zahkarov's promise to exterminate the entire species after one too many bases being wiped out by them). If I was on Planet, the mere existence of mind worms, much less their ability to sneak into practically any place and through any defense, at least in small quantities, would scare the crap out of me. So, on one hand, the Gaians would, after a while, be the least likely to be attacked by mind worms (thanks to their careful policies, which is a good thing), but they'd also have the smallest (or potentially, no) anti-mind worm program, which is kind of terrifying if you live on the frontiers. Of course, I tend to play games with a high amount of native life activity, with mind worm attacks in waves, even for Gaians. Due to that, the Gaians are kind of teetering between so-so and less desireable.
Why would you do that? Certainly doesn't give you any advantage, and it doesn't seem like a whole lot of fun to me...
It effects everybody and is pretty clearly the way the game was intended to be played. The whole "Secrets of the Human Brain" thing doesn't make any sense otherwise.
You mean because by not chosing "Blind Research" the University is always gonna get it first? I think it's very well possible the designers wanted it that way. In Civilization II, you get a free tech for discovering "Philosophy" first. But it doesn't come as early as "Secrets of the human brain". That works out all right...
Having been a Civ player, I was really pissed off by blind research in my first couple of games. I can't see any fun in it. Actually, I would love a "Goal"- Function in SMAC as there was in Civ, allowing you to study the Tech Tree before you select your next research target. Yes, I admit it, I don't have that poster of the Tech Tree up my wall... ;-)
YShame that the MP game I was trying to set-up got cancelled because of the little interest people showed u_u
I'm not a very good player (Librarian max), but I'd be up for a relaxed MP game. Have to admit I've never played one before so I'd probably be the first victim. Well, what the hell...
Drones aren't really a huge problem in this game though, once you get supply crawlers you can stop mineral production in base squares and just put them on everything. If you have the borehole cluster near you thats an instant 20+ minerals or energy per turn until you can build them yourself. If you're the Gaians you don't even have to worry about pollution.
The problem with Cloning Vats is that it makes the small population cities that have been languishing on low nutrient resources suddenly blossom into a metropolis, often without the required underlying infrastructure to prevent the Drone Riots at higher difficulties. When you have a Drone Riot under those circumstances, it's a problem that can persist for a while (Drone Riots kill resource gathering). At lower difficulties, Drone Riots happen so infrequently that you know you've done something wrong with your base building or managing your city jobs.
Still, you can just nerve staple them. At that point in the game (Cloning Vats), you've either already won, or on your way to winning.
Cloning vats with space elevator is the winning combination, so all those potential drones are turned into Talents and the cities constantly grow due to abundant sky gardens. Nothing beats having multiple cities with populations over 100, churning out orbitals and one turn planetbusters.
Again, that's past the endgame. You've already won if you've researched the fuckin' Space Elevator. The only reason you'd even HAVE either Cloning Vats or the Space Elevator is if you've beaten down the other factions, but you refuse to declare yourself the winner so you can go for a Transcendence victory. If you are playing on Transcendi (or whatever the hardest difficulty is), you'd be hard-pressed to push for one. I can't remember how many times I'd have to revert to a previous save or restart on my Transcendence/Transcendi goal.
Why would you do that? Certainly doesn't give you any advantage, and it doesn't seem like a whole lot of fun to me...
It effects everybody and is pretty clearly the way the game was intended to be played. The whole "Secrets of the Human Brain" thing doesn't make any sense otherwise.
You mean because by not chosing "Blind Research" the University is always gonna get it first? I think it's very well possible the designers wanted it that way. In Civilization II, you get a free tech for discovering "Philosophy" first. But it doesn't come as early as "Secrets of the human brain". That works out all right...
Having been a Civ player, I was really pissed off by blind research in my first couple of games. I can't see any fun in it. Actually, I would love a "Goal"- Function in SMAC as there was in Civ, allowing you to study the Tech Tree before you select your next research target. Yes, I admit it, I don't have that poster of the Tech Tree up my wall... ;-)
Geeze, it's been a while--blind research allows you just to get a general feeling for where your research is going (explorative, conquest, etc.), but not select the actual research project, right?
If so, I don't think I've ever played a game where blind research isn't on. I should give it a try.
This game is still loads of fun. Thinker is not a huge challenge, but it still hits the sweet spot for me since at that level I can still reliably grab several of the early secret projects if I really focus whereas on transcend it is hard as hell to grab even one.
My biggest problem with this game is how playing any other civ game now makes me think how much more fun I could have playing this, and playing any faction other than the Gaians makes me think how much more fun I could have playing as them. There is something about the theme of the Gaians in combination with the strange atmosphere of the game and alien nature of the flora and fauna that makes me go for a pure mindworm/locust military and transcendence victory every time. The Hive seemed thematically interesting but for me just boiled down to steady early warfare into snowballing when I tried it which is boring to me.
Might go for a University game next, it could be interesting to see how well non-worm psi units work.
I think the reason why to me the Gaians are the strongest faction thematically is that they are the only ones who really are shaped by the fact that they are on the Planet. All the other factions could exist on Earth but the Gaians are really shaped by two things 1. Earth just got fucked and everyone on it is dead because of the stuff we did. 2. This world is really really strange. If this game was ever remade (I know that is really unlikely) I would hope that the other factions could be changed to engage that sort of thing a bit more. Morgan for instance is trying to create an advanced economy from scratch, how does that work at first when Humanity is barely holding on to life. Or how paranoid are the Spartans when they realize that the world is literally plotting to kill them.
This game is still loads of fun. Thinker is not a huge challenge, but it still hits the sweet spot for me since at that level I can still reliably grab several of the early secret projects if I really focus whereas on transcend it is hard as hell to grab even one.
My biggest problem with this game is how playing any other civ game now makes me think how much more fun I could have playing this,
This. No matter what Civ game I play, I keep thinking "I should be playing SMAC. It's so much better." Although SMAC can be improved, there's just so much you can do in SMAC that you can't in Civ. Terraforming is the big one, for me.
and playing any faction other than the Gaians makes me think how much more fun I could have playing as them.
Bleh. I started out liking the Gaians, but after doing multiple playthroughs with the other factions, I actually find the Morganites to be my favorite faction to play. Their unique ability gives you an advantage that grows with you throughout the game as you gain more cities. That, and Nwabudike is the best name ever.
I'm quite conflicted with playing Miriam. One the one hand, she has the awesome +25% attack bonus that no other faction has. On the other hand... it's Miriam.
I think the reason why to me the Gaians are the strongest faction thematically is that they are the only ones who really are shaped by the fact that they are on the Planet. All the other factions could exist on Earth but the Gaians are really shaped by two things 1. Earth just got fucked and everyone on it is dead because of the stuff we did. 2. This world is really really strange. If this game was ever remade (I know that is really unlikely) I would hope that the other factions could be changed to engage that sort of thing a bit more. Morgan for instance is trying to create an advanced economy from scratch, how does that work at first when Humanity is barely holding on to life. Or how paranoid are the Spartans when they realize that the world is literally plotting to kill them.
Funny thing about this, unless it's been retconned, the Unity crew (and thus, all humans on Planet) don't know what happened on Earth. Don't get me wrong, the last they heard the situation was extremely dire (though it was much more dire to the Gaians and the Peacekeepers than, say, the Morganites and the Spartans), but there's no confirmation that Earth is dead (in fact, it's quite unlikely that that's the case). The most explanation we get is that humanity largely destroyed itself via famine, war, etc.,--versus Planet, where humanity is still destroying itself via famine, war, etc. The kicker is that, with the factions having to spend decades to replicate the Soviets putting Gagarin into space, any attempt to physically contact Earth are simply not feasible--even the University has trouble putting the equivalent of Sputnik back up. At least Earth's remaining indigneous life isn't characterized by being psychic and interested in raping your skull and laying its eggs in there.
(Unless, of course, this has already been retconned/elaborated in further by Firaxis and I totally missed it, in which case I would be embarrassed.)
Besides, the Spartans think everyone's out to kill them even when they aren't. And even if they weren't, that'd still leave the mind worms and everything else (which, to their credit, the Spartans are better prepared to manage.)
You guys sure seem to love this game. Funny that nobody has suggested a MP game apart from myself and Philskow ;P
The game, btw, gets stupid easy once you get Industrial Automation. You can play in Trascend and still grab most SP's. It's like the most basic tech -ever-. (<- protip).
I think the reason why to me the Gaians are the strongest faction thematically is that they are the only ones who really are shaped by the fact that they are on the Planet. All the other factions could exist on Earth but the Gaians are really shaped by two things 1. Earth just got fucked and everyone on it is dead because of the stuff we did. 2. This world is really really strange. If this game was ever remade (I know that is really unlikely) I would hope that the other factions could be changed to engage that sort of thing a bit more. Morgan for instance is trying to create an advanced economy from scratch, how does that work at first when Humanity is barely holding on to life. Or how paranoid are the Spartans when they realize that the world is literally plotting to kill them.
Funny thing about this, unless it's been retconned, the Unity crew (and thus, all humans on Planet) don't know what happened on Earth. Don't get me wrong, the last they heard the situation was extremely dire (though it was much more dire to the Gaians and the Peacekeepers than, say, the Morganites and the Spartans), but there's no confirmation that Earth is dead (in fact, it's quite unlikely that that's the case). The most explanation we get is that humanity largely destroyed itself via famine, war, etc.,--versus Planet, where humanity is still destroying itself via famine, war, etc. The kicker is that, with the factions having to spend decades to replicate the Soviets putting Gagarin into space, any attempt to physically contact Earth are simply not feasible--even the University has trouble putting the equivalent of Sputnik back up. At least Earth's remaining indigneous life isn't characterized by being psychic and interested in raping your skull and laying its eggs in there.
(Unless, of course, this has already been retconned/elaborated in further by Firaxis and I totally missed it, in which case I would be embarrassed.)
Besides, the Spartans think everyone's out to kill them even when they aren't. And even if they weren't, that'd still leave the mind worms and everything else (which, to their credit, the Spartans are better prepared to manage.)
I assume they would have tried to contact Earth by radio and figured out that there was no one left who was recieving or sending a signal. I don't think it would have been too hard to figure out that something was really really bad there.
I think the reason why to me the Gaians are the strongest faction thematically is that they are the only ones who really are shaped by the fact that they are on the Planet. All the other factions could exist on Earth but the Gaians are really shaped by two things 1. Earth just got fucked and everyone on it is dead because of the stuff we did. 2. This world is really really strange. If this game was ever remade (I know that is really unlikely) I would hope that the other factions could be changed to engage that sort of thing a bit more. Morgan for instance is trying to create an advanced economy from scratch, how does that work at first when Humanity is barely holding on to life. Or how paranoid are the Spartans when they realize that the world is literally plotting to kill them.
Funny thing about this, unless it's been retconned, the Unity crew (and thus, all humans on Planet) don't know what happened on Earth. Don't get me wrong, the last they heard the situation was extremely dire (though it was much more dire to the Gaians and the Peacekeepers than, say, the Morganites and the Spartans), but there's no confirmation that Earth is dead (in fact, it's quite unlikely that that's the case). The most explanation we get is that humanity largely destroyed itself via famine, war, etc.,--versus Planet, where humanity is still destroying itself via famine, war, etc. The kicker is that, with the factions having to spend decades to replicate the Soviets putting Gagarin into space, any attempt to physically contact Earth are simply not feasible--even the University has trouble putting the equivalent of Sputnik back up. At least Earth's remaining indigneous life isn't characterized by being psychic and interested in raping your skull and laying its eggs in there.
(Unless, of course, this has already been retconned/elaborated in further by Firaxis and I totally missed it, in which case I would be embarrassed.)
Besides, the Spartans think everyone's out to kill them even when they aren't. And even if they weren't, that'd still leave the mind worms and everything else (which, to their credit, the Spartans are better prepared to manage.)
I assume they would have tried to contact Earth by radio and figured out that there was no one left who was recieving or sending a signal. I don't think it would have been too hard to figure out that something was really really bad there.
Entirely possible, but it's not said outright--basically, when people stop emerging out of hibernation on the Unity due to the reactor crisis that causes the faction split, ultimately, they've found they already lost contact with Earth for a very long time.
On Planet itself, they don't have technology that could reliably broadcast to Earth (sending a radio signal 4 light years away isn't an easy task), due to the very crude techonology they have to work with (hell, why else would a mere seven factions so easily lose radio contact with eachother on a single planet?) for a while too. They do get to that point eventually though (as revealed in the story messages in game).
I would definitely join the Gaians. You're either with the mind worms or you're against them (not completely, but you get my point). Also they are closest to my beliefs of the original factions.
I like to imagine that Gaian territory is full of images of Lady Deirdre holding Chiron in one hand and a fistful of mind worms in the other.
Conquest through indiscriminate application of nerve gas.
Wassat, my good buddy Mao? You want to repeal those silly laws against the use of weapons of mass destruction? Why, so do I! Lets you and I talk, and we'll make sure those silly Greens can't bother us any more.
Granted, all the factions experiment with mind worms (and by "experiment", I mean, letting them burry themselves in the skulls of talents, just like that lovely story scene in the game). The Gaians just happen to want to do it a lot more--which is probably their single greatest strategic advantage.
On the other hand, if you had a Planetbuster arms race, being in a Gaian base would suck even more than being among the Peacekeepers. They're the least likely group to use them, I'd wager, as a consequence of peaceful tendencies, poor miltiary industry (or industry in general, for a long time), and being the most horrifed at the consequences of using them. The most sane, sure, but it'd suck to be in the faction least likely to have the ability to retaliate.
Then again, I'm pretty sure I played at least one game where the Gaians got planetbusters, and I wasn't playing them. I don't think they used them (UN Charter still standing).
Might go for a University game next, it could be interesting to see how well non-worm psi units work.
Spartans may be better for this. Psi warfare depends heavily on a unit's Morale level and the Spartans are the best at pumping that morale up to ridiculously high levels very early.
DrakeEdgelord TrashBelow the ecliptic plane.Registered Userregular
Yeah. Firaxis has said before that they'd like to go back to Alpha Centauri. But as the linked article points out, they'd have to reacquire the rights to the game from EA.
So, not gonna happen, as EA doesn't ever seem to let go of anything ever. A "spiritual successor" is the best we can hope for, most likely. Then the trick becomes keeping the flavor of SMAC, which is a big part of its draw.
A spiritual successor, while still good, would lack the crucial elements of character and personality. The expansion factions, while variously entertaining, were not as awesome as the original factions I personally felt. Shame thatt it's EA is the publisher.
That Planetfall Mod they mention for Civ IV....it's basically as it says, plus it lacks the design lab, obviously.
I'm very intrigued. While I love Alpha Centauri, coming to it as late as I did it was easy for me to see flaws in it. There is a risk that a sequel will lose a lot of the originals charm, certainly, but I have confidence that with the right team and creative direction they can create something wonderful. That is not to say that they will of course, but the opportunity exists.
Posts
EDIT: Unless, of course, you already knew that, and had turned it about onto multiple levels....
Personally, I'm far more disturbed by religious zealotry, a religious inquisition, and a disdain for all other cultures (consider that all the factions are ethnically diverse, but the Believers are the only ones who are religiously homogenous). By comparison, I can tolerate a police state and a planned economy by comparison--hell, everyone except the Morganites starts out with a planned economy, heh...
The Spartans are awful, as I've complained before, simply because they love war, and they always benefit from it, even whey they lose: in conquering them, you've done nothing but scatter their precious artillery piece collection and conquered a bunch of starving, malnourished, undeveloped cities. The Hive's are genuises of civil planning by comparison. The Spartans suck at it, and they know they do, so they have very little to lose against a "non-aggressive", even player run, faction, in their minds.
See, I don't see the Spartans as anything but annoying, and in my experience they were usually bright enough to realize when they were outgunned. Ideologically, they're extremist Libertarians, and if they invite me to exercise some 2nd amendment rights in their direction, I consider it a compliment ... and decent target practice. That and you KNOW Santiago loooooves the Punishment Sphere.
Not to turn this into a Debate & Discourse thread, but I don't see the Believers as different from any other faction. They're extremists in their particular ideology, their ideology just happens to be religious. It's not ethnic, it's not even necessarily cultural (although they didn't do any favors to them by making Miriam a fellow ginger). Then again, as a Lutheran, I'm reasonably well-versed in the history of religious inquisitions (Catholics) and religious zealotry (most of the Baptists I hung out with in high school), and disdain for other cultures, believe me, has nothing to do with creed. I know that all oppression conducted in the name of the church is inherently heresy, if not worse.
The Hive, however, make me shudder. There's a marked difference in my mind between, "read my book" and "this is the s#!t job you WILL do, this is the s#!t food you WILL eat, and if we feel you need to die for the 'good of the society,' well, nice knowin' ya! You are a number, a drone, a cog, and if you aspire to greatness, too bad - pick up the wrench and get back to work." I love renaming their colonies after I capture them. Stuff like, "Parliament Funkadelic," and "No-Firewall Warrens."
If Christianity had done that in the middle ages, it would have gone the way of Zoroastrianism. I.e., beat the crap out of by other religions that have less of a problem with the whole 'thou shalt not kill' deal.
Turn the other cheek is not a commandment to lie down and get murdered. There wouldn't be any Christians left if that was the case.
What most people don't understand is that even in religious wars there is usually a heavy political undercurrent. As an example, the Crusades were not about forcing people to convert, it was a retailation to another, aggressive, expansive rival culture that very much fits the mold of Alpha Centauri. There were even native, Christian political factions such as Armenia that were allies of Crusaders. You had cross alliances between various Muslim and Christian powers, and all manner of real politik beyond ignorant peasants with pitchforks most people tend to assume the middle ages were like.
"People believe differently than me! I'm gonna murder them!" is a childish way of looking at history, since 99% of the time, the real causes of war, clashes of civilizations, religions, etc, are far more complex and interesting.
I'm sure you understand I wasn't talking about capitulation, I was talking about the finer points of Christian theology vis-a-vis political powers ("Submit to the authorities, wherever you are...") and trying to be brief about it.
Honestly the Believers as a faction would be just as interesting if they were Zoroastrians. The developers did their homework.
That's it. Planet Buster on the way.
I say we raise the seas instead.
Much of what the Hive do--for example, "You will do this job, because I say so!" is, surprise, largely and exactly what the other factions do, both practically (okay, I don't need this many talents anymore. Get back to work, proles) and thematically (as demonstrated by the experiments with Mind worms and industry). All the factions reserve their right to force people to do things they would absolutely deplore and hate when strategic concerns come to play.
The Believers are not "Read my book"--they are "Read my book, believe as I do, or else." They value purity of consciousness, and that's goddamn scary--more so than the other factions, who are largely interested in ensuring their will is followed over purity of thought. The Hive are a compromise between compulsion and ideological conversion--they are, after all, support to be the manifestation of legalism. Everyone just calls them "communists", because most westerners have never heard of Chinese Legalism, which predates Mao, Sun, Chiang by two millenia. Firaxis did their research, even if it is a shame that it was lost on the audience--Yang actually demonstrates the importance of the clear, written law (as expansion and invasive as it is), the legitimacy presented by the elite, and the importance of tactics and method (which can override the previous two aspects). The literally revolutionary social engineering he seeks (though doesn't necessarily reach) wouldn't be necessarily if he just wanted a command economy and society run like a birth-control wheel, since the factions all start out as such.
The Believers are different, They are far more interested in your "soul"--and in the world of Psi and mind worms, the soul means the most invasive part of your consciousness. They're not hypocritical enough to say, "Hey, who cares if no one believes any of this stuff." That's fucked up. As an atheist, I can still appreciate that people hold their faiths learned from their families or old communities, dearly. The Believers are by far the most invasive of the factions in this regard--content of consciousness matters to them more than others. "You will eat this food, you will do this...." are all things done by all the factions to varying degrees, and practically universally in the early game. Even the Morganites have an economy far more planned than most capitalist or moderately capitalist states that exist today.
The three tenants of legalism mean that the Hive is absolutely interested in influencing the mind (legitimacy and method), but the sort of soul deterimation that the Believers chase just creeps me the fuck right out. Thank God they do fear technology, or they'd use mind worms and implants to ensure a perfect level of piety for their entire population immediately, I'd wager. Of course, their effectiveness and dedication to this cause means it actually works (hence their moral bonus), to their credit--though the inability to question not just their leaders but the basics of life on Planet really does fuck up their research levels. "Hey, have you noticed that the fungus seems to be breathing?" "Nope, Jesus did it." "Well, perhaps, but I think if we take samples." "Fine, I'll burn you as a heretic, are you happy now?"
As for the Spartans, I've actually been conscripted, so I can say confidently that it sucks out loud. It particularly sucks out loud in a society that otherwise advertises itself as "the most free" otherwise, I'll wager. In actuality, they express a sort of situation that can be interpretted as hypocrisy of a sort: the police state question. The Spartans and their police state is one of those unanswered questions from the game itself, I think, unless it was covered elsewhere? Their citizenry is publicly encouraged to own guns, and yet, they're society not only happily relies on having a direct police state like the Hive, but in "normal" times, their society steers towards police actions anyway. Contrary to popular belief, the public can have guns in a dictatorship--the elite merely need to guarantee that their supporters have the best guns and the most of them. Take the Spartan Federation in most of my games--constantly at war with their neighbors, their infrastructure suffering from the fact, their citizenry armed to the teeth, and yet totally unable to influence their government short of storming the legislature with machineguns: the Spartan Federation is Iraq, between the Iran-Iraq war and the Second Gulf War, right down to the everyman owning an assault rifle and the depleted state still being largely unchecked in any respect.
Damn it, can we all grab our shovels and have at the Unity wreckage first?
1. Gaians. I'm not a huge hippy but it seems like it would be a pretty chill place to live. Loss of freedom in what you can buy and stuff like that but probably could social programs and such.
2. Peacekeepers. Same as Gaians pretty much. More likely to get horribly conquered and Lal can be a jerk sometimes.
3. University. The fact that they get more drones makes me worry that I'd end up as someones experiment.
4. Believers. I'm already Christian, just gotta hope I'm not a heretical Christian.
5. Spartans. If you don't get killed during your military service its probably alright to live there.
6. Morgan Industries. Probably more theoretical freedom but a lot less practical. Hopefully I'd be able to find a nice job and be alright. More likely be born poor and get paid in company scrip working in the spore mines.
7. Hive. Waaay down at the bottom. Soviet Russia in spaaaaaace.
Edit: The problem with the believers is there is a big dissonance between how they act in game, and how miriam is presented in quotes. That really isn't a bad attitude, but in game she comes across more as a racist hillbilly type.
Most desireable -
Peacekeepers: All the factions have a risk of foreign occupation, but an actual interest in civil management and a working bureaucracy is a good thing, last I checked. A genuine concern for democracy isn't something I'd count against them either.
University: The incredible willingness to dessiminate technology on a harsh alien world does mean a lot for your condition of life--the preservation of your health, your standard of living, or even just knowing what the fuck is going on (outside of guarded experiments). I also tend to be less concerned with other people's moral hang-ups so long as they're not actively murdering me for my organs, so their hands-off sense of ethics is something I could adjust to.
So-so -
Morganites: Given my believes in the responsibility of society, it'd be hard to become a hardcore capitalist. But the way it works is that either I'm an elite, and have a comparitively comfortable life and am quickly reprogrammed into a capitalist, or I'm a proletarian, and my say matters not anyway. Best to hope to capture whatever tiny amount of wealth happens to trickle down.
Less desireable -
Gaians: One too many jokes about running naked in the forest. I've lived in urbanized society almost my entire life, I'd rather not be kicked out into the countryside just because I need to learn how to get along with those brain-raping worms or the poisonous xenofungus. Don't get me wrong, I agree with their concerns, I would just hate having to become one with nature on an alien world with brain-raping worms. Being an elite basically subjugates me to these same concerns.
Hive: I know how legalism works, I know what the state wants, and I don't mind the fact that people in the same society are largely in the same boat as me. My whole family grew up during the White Terror, so I guess I can live through the Pink Terror and keep my mouth shut. And I'd take being forced into a job on a factory floor over being forced into a job that involves blowing other people up ever time the diplomats fail. If I'm among the original Unity colonies, I'm going to end up eating recycled food and fungus unless I was part of a tiny elite in the Morganites, possibly--eating them in front of all my neighbors, who are eating the same thing, is not a major concern of mine. A regimented life, that doesn't involve training to kill other people, is something I can tolerate.
Least desirable -
Spartans: I've been conscripted. I don't need to be conscripted again, and again, and again, when the diplomats fail (since Spartan diplomats probably consist of large, bouncer-like men who try and bash the other diplomats' skulls open on the conference table). Especially for a faction who considers its warmaking ability its primary strength and one of its primary reasons to exist. Nevermind a civil service that couldn't manage their way out of paper bag with both hands and and a compass, and is more interested in building submersible aircraft carriers than paving the roads. And I, quite frankly, do not want to harm another being under any circumstances--even in self-defense, I'd greatly prefer an alternative if it did exist. A warrior culture that glorifies it is not for me.
Believers: I'm not a Christian, so I wouldn't make the cut. And I'm not familiar enough with Christianity to pass as one, so they'd have no trouble hunting me down to be reprogrammed, exiled or killed as a heretic. Not being one of the faith, I don't think I'd appreciate the sense of community either while I was alive. Being in a regular state of war, like with the Spartans, would kind of bite too--though with the Believers, it ends one of two ways: I'm quickly conquered and placed into a new society, or I'm killed really fast. On a side note, I've always been a bit uncomfortable with the particularly fire-and-brimstone of Evangelical rhetoric over Catholic or Anglican rhetoric, which would be a big downer, since I think the Believers are Evangelical Protestants. If the Believers were a Liberation Theology faction, I'd probably be much better off (albeit perhaps still burned as a heretic).
All in all, the Believers would be a really short life. Then again, I'm not considering what actually happens, canonically (as much as their is a canon, in the Firaxis-endorsed novels), following the Unity breakup, which ends much worse for some factions than others.
I don't think the believers think you need to be one with nature, just that the humans in this setting fucked earth up enough that everyone on it is dead and our first concern has to be that we don't do that again. I'd picture it more as everything being very high efficiency energy and material wise. No cars, just public transit. Mandatory recycling of all products. That sort of thing.
The Gaians, I assume you mean--I know what you're saying, but the thing is, what you're describing probably applies largely to all the factions as a matter of necessity for upon arrival to Planet, and for a long period aterwards. Hell, even the Morganites might be able to give a few of their top executives limos, but everyone is using the transit system because they're too busy trying to ilk out a life on a harsh, alien world, and those wasted resources are better spent elswhere. All the factions use Recycling Tanks (all of them), the Gaians probably just avoid dumping the excess into the rivers the most often (which is a good thing, but does not directly impact me while I'm trying to not die on Planet, at least not initially). At the same time, a few of the creature comforts (not all of them, but a few) that the other factions enjoy might be unavailable to the Gaians--the type of food they can consume, for example, that might leave me very unhappy. Or acknowledging that occasionally, the population has to be allowed to be "pruned", like a garden, in the interests of population balance (I'd probably more upset about that if I wanted to have lots of children).
Though yeah, obviously, most Gaians live in bases. The notion of coexisting with the mind worms--and the few decades of brain-raping that could very likely entail as that's worked out--is not something I look forward to though. I really don't like mind worms (I'm probably one of the few people who agrees with Zahkarov's promise to exterminate the entire species after one too many bases being wiped out by them). If I was on Planet, the mere existence of mind worms, much less their ability to sneak into practically any place and through any defense, at least in small quantities, would scare the crap out of me. So, on one hand, the Gaians would, after a while, be the least likely to be attacked by mind worms (thanks to their careful policies, which is a good thing), but they'd also have the smallest (or potentially, no) anti-mind worm program, which is kind of terrifying if you live on the frontiers. Of course, I tend to play games with a high amount of native life activity, with mind worm attacks in waves, even for Gaians. Due to that, the Gaians are kind of teetering between so-so and less desireable.
EDIT: Wow, 3 AM here. Time to sleep.
You mean because by not chosing "Blind Research" the University is always gonna get it first? I think it's very well possible the designers wanted it that way. In Civilization II, you get a free tech for discovering "Philosophy" first. But it doesn't come as early as "Secrets of the human brain". That works out all right...
Having been a Civ player, I was really pissed off by blind research in my first couple of games. I can't see any fun in it. Actually, I would love a "Goal"- Function in SMAC as there was in Civ, allowing you to study the Tech Tree before you select your next research target. Yes, I admit it, I don't have that poster of the Tech Tree up my wall... ;-)
I'm not a very good player (Librarian max), but I'd be up for a relaxed MP game. Have to admit I've never played one before so I'd probably be the first victim. Well, what the hell...
Cloning vats with space elevator is the winning combination, so all those potential drones are turned into Talents and the cities constantly grow due to abundant sky gardens. Nothing beats having multiple cities with populations over 100, churning out orbitals and one turn planetbusters.
Geeze, it's been a while--blind research allows you just to get a general feeling for where your research is going (explorative, conquest, etc.), but not select the actual research project, right?
If so, I don't think I've ever played a game where blind research isn't on. I should give it a try.
My biggest problem with this game is how playing any other civ game now makes me think how much more fun I could have playing this, and playing any faction other than the Gaians makes me think how much more fun I could have playing as them. There is something about the theme of the Gaians in combination with the strange atmosphere of the game and alien nature of the flora and fauna that makes me go for a pure mindworm/locust military and transcendence victory every time. The Hive seemed thematically interesting but for me just boiled down to steady early warfare into snowballing when I tried it which is boring to me.
Might go for a University game next, it could be interesting to see how well non-worm psi units work.
Bleh. I started out liking the Gaians, but after doing multiple playthroughs with the other factions, I actually find the Morganites to be my favorite faction to play. Their unique ability gives you an advantage that grows with you throughout the game as you gain more cities. That, and Nwabudike is the best name ever.
I'm quite conflicted with playing Miriam. One the one hand, she has the awesome +25% attack bonus that no other faction has. On the other hand... it's Miriam.
Funny thing about this, unless it's been retconned, the Unity crew (and thus, all humans on Planet) don't know what happened on Earth. Don't get me wrong, the last they heard the situation was extremely dire (though it was much more dire to the Gaians and the Peacekeepers than, say, the Morganites and the Spartans), but there's no confirmation that Earth is dead (in fact, it's quite unlikely that that's the case). The most explanation we get is that humanity largely destroyed itself via famine, war, etc.,--versus Planet, where humanity is still destroying itself via famine, war, etc. The kicker is that, with the factions having to spend decades to replicate the Soviets putting Gagarin into space, any attempt to physically contact Earth are simply not feasible--even the University has trouble putting the equivalent of Sputnik back up. At least Earth's remaining indigneous life isn't characterized by being psychic and interested in raping your skull and laying its eggs in there.
(Unless, of course, this has already been retconned/elaborated in further by Firaxis and I totally missed it, in which case I would be embarrassed.)
Besides, the Spartans think everyone's out to kill them even when they aren't. And even if they weren't, that'd still leave the mind worms and everything else (which, to their credit, the Spartans are better prepared to manage.)
The game, btw, gets stupid easy once you get Industrial Automation. You can play in Trascend and still grab most SP's. It's like the most basic tech -ever-. (<- protip).
My kingdom for an IP MP game of this!!! >__<
Please don't go. The drones need you. They look up to you.
Entirely possible, but it's not said outright--basically, when people stop emerging out of hibernation on the Unity due to the reactor crisis that causes the faction split, ultimately, they've found they already lost contact with Earth for a very long time.
On Planet itself, they don't have technology that could reliably broadcast to Earth (sending a radio signal 4 light years away isn't an easy task), due to the very crude techonology they have to work with (hell, why else would a mere seven factions so easily lose radio contact with eachother on a single planet?) for a while too. They do get to that point eventually though (as revealed in the story messages in game).
I like to imagine that Gaian territory is full of images of Lady Deirdre holding Chiron in one hand and a fistful of mind worms in the other.
Conquest through indiscriminate application of nerve gas.
Wassat, my good buddy Mao? You want to repeal those silly laws against the use of weapons of mass destruction? Why, so do I! Lets you and I talk, and we'll make sure those silly Greens can't bother us any more.
Granted, all the factions experiment with mind worms (and by "experiment", I mean, letting them burry themselves in the skulls of talents, just like that lovely story scene in the game). The Gaians just happen to want to do it a lot more--which is probably their single greatest strategic advantage.
On the other hand, if you had a Planetbuster arms race, being in a Gaian base would suck even more than being among the Peacekeepers. They're the least likely group to use them, I'd wager, as a consequence of peaceful tendencies, poor miltiary industry (or industry in general, for a long time), and being the most horrifed at the consequences of using them. The most sane, sure, but it'd suck to be in the faction least likely to have the ability to retaliate.
Then again, I'm pretty sure I played at least one game where the Gaians got planetbusters, and I wasn't playing them. I don't think they used them (UN Charter still standing).
Maybe some locusts.
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Sid-Meier-Is-Thinking-About-Remaking-Alpha-Centauri-142452.shtml
So, not gonna happen, as EA doesn't ever seem to let go of anything ever. A "spiritual successor" is the best we can hope for, most likely. Then the trick becomes keeping the flavor of SMAC, which is a big part of its draw.
That Planetfall Mod they mention for Civ IV....it's basically as it says, plus it lacks the design lab, obviously.
They could make a game called Libra Gliese 581 or something
I'm not really interested in another Alpha Centauri unless Firaxis is involved, and they are with 2K these days.