Sid Meier's 'Alpha Centauri' and its Slow-Dawning Realization - Guide to Games

[@DrownedInExile]

"People need heroes. They don't need to know how he died clawing his eyes out, screaming for mercy. After all, the real truth would just hurt sales, and dampen the spirits of our customers."

[@ErikHolten]

RIP Richard Baxton, may his name live forever as Recon Rover Rick

[@raideurng2508]

A game of SMAC, by the end, doesn't feel like building a grand world, it feels like a race against time before everything, the other factions, the planet, your own forbidden technology, and the distorted morals of your own society, doom humanity to death. I love it.

[@jeffreycavanaugh1693]

This. Absolutely this.

[@Dezmixbe]

Still my favourite 4X game by a mile. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places, but I feel like nobody gives this game the praise it deserves. It has so much more personality and flavour than any other game of its type, and introduced so many ideas to what was a pretty stagnant genre.

[@michaelmichaelson6766]

too bad we got beyound and not alpha centauri 2. or just a remaster with better ai.

[@Dichtsau]

i agree, like so many others. SMAC just needs a HD-remake (and finally a patch that solves the game crashes on "AI producing better rockets then possible"). they could sell it for 50$ or even *€* and at least 1mio ppl would buy it. what i personally loved most, was the .txt-editing of the factions; or better to say, simply the fact that i could, just as in C&C:TS/FS (where it was possible to make the AI from lvl 2 max smartness to lvl 4, aswell as creating entire new factions). i got a set of very very balanced new SMAC-factions, literally the old ones, but sorta "more focussedly improved" on what they represent. for example morgan gets taxes on how much energy he got alrdy, or the "spartians" having big ships & free def fences on every town from beginning.

[@MechaGodAnri]

I remember when I was excited for Beyond Earth then felt disappointed because I was secretly hoping for a successor to Alpha Centauri even though I knew it wasn't meant to be a remake or sequel but I could dream. I also love BE too cause it's different enough but it's definitely broken in so many ways due to balance issues and I still think it's garbage when compared too Alpha Centauri. I still play SMAC today with a couple of mods that fix various issues like certain buildings not working properly if built before eco-damage starts to kick in after the first pop. I hope one day they do make a sequel or remake but I'm also paranoid that they would screw it up somehow as well.

[@HomeworldChanal]

It is. I just discovered it because of the video from Mandalore and now it´s permanently installed (withAI Growth Mod).

[@MrAdik861]

For me it's not just a favourite 4X game. I think that it's my favourite game, the no. 1 of ALL games! For a number of years I have had a fair share of different favourite games, like Master of Orion II, Homeworld, Civilization II: Test of Time, Civ IV (then VI), X-Com: TFTD, and a few other. But SM's Alpha Centauri stuck with me really hard for all these years until today, even if I hadn't played it for some long time. And while Civilization series are focused on history, and MoO II and Homeworld are awe-inspiring with space (though after I encountered Space Engine and after some worldview shifts - this is not the case any more), SM's Alpha Centauri takes the cake of being a great balance between these two groups of games, and it still offers much more, especially in terms of its philosophical elements! My no. 1, period.

[@Demiath]

That's a respectable interpretation of Alpha Centauri, but I would assume that many (if not most) SMAC players became enthralled by the game because of how vividly it represented the various ideologies of the Earthborn factions. Far from being intellectual dead weight from a failed planet, Alpha Centauri made a compelling case for each of its mutually exclusive viewpoints - whether it be the spiritually imbued collectivism of Yang, the strict environmentalism of Deidre Skye or the thought-provoking fundamentalism of Miriam Godwinson (to take just a few examples). SMAC showed that politics is not just an unavoidable part of being human; it's also at least as exciting as melting the polar ice caps for extra cash! ;)

[@Dichtsau]

honestly, me & my buddies just LOVED the gameplay, the gaming mechanics. ofc every1 liked some ideology more then others, but that was to be reasoned in the factions specific gameplays.

[@drako3659]

This video is only half the truth. Yes, the world of SMAC is full of unbridled horror, but it is also full of wonder. Clinical immortality and Transcendence are just the beginning.

[@DarkArtistKaiser]

Thats one I'm not going to do again personally. Granted, its likely cause I forgot the full benefits of why, but I remember having a bad time maneuvering in my territory as the sea levels turned my bases into sea bases(I think I had one instance where a base became a sea base and it was inland, making it even more of a nightmare.)

[@MrAdik861]

Oh how I agree! This game (when I started playing it in 2004) became an impetus for me to study different worldviews, especially those that concerned the ideological organization of a given society. It also invited me to the "wonderful" world of dystopias (inspiration from Yang's Hive, and from the social engineering choices from Police State to Thought Control). Plus having all these ideologies lined up together for comparison of their worldviews, strengths, weaknesses... This game was one of those (one other example was Deus Ex) that somewhat opened to me the world of politics, including local (municipal) politics, and the themes of social justice, freedoms, economics, human wellbeing, political oppression etc. Now I did not become a politician, nor had I been involved in politics in other ways (maybe one day I will be more involved), but this game was indeed a huge inspiration into this topic!

[@SteveAkaDarktimes]

still relevant, still resonates decades later. its wisdom too often forgotten and unheeded. this game educated and shaped my youth. "As the Americans learned so painfully in Earth's final century, free flow of information is the only safeguard against tyranny. The once chained people who's leaders at last lose their grip on the information flow, will soon burst with freedom and vitality. But the free nation gradually constricting its grip on public discourse has begun its rapid slide into despotism. Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master." - Commissoner Pravin Lal. Human Declaration of Rights

[@jeetjerome]

It literally gives me the creeps how visionary and just true the wisdom of SMAC has been. I also grown up with this game, thanks to my dad, I know what you are talking about. Some of SMACs content could just fill up a complete academic course.

[@DarkArtistKaiser]

Alpha Centauri dared to see the future as not wholly white and looked into the dark potential of the technologies we create, and how even in a hundred years we still struggle with one another in factions that don't just boil down to "Good Gold colored Hawk fans vs Evil red colored Scropian fans" type factions. Alot of the things SMAC gives focus too and brings up are things most scifi games ignore either because as a leader such matters are below you or more likely are after thoughts: How does future cities maintain law and order? How do you deal with dissidents and those who don't share the state mandate? How ethical is your scientists and are they truly aware of what they unleash? SMAC dared to ask the player to think about where we are heading and in this day and age, most companies would rather make players feel good in hopes of making more money from them. If Alpha Centauri 2 was made and kept its themes and its biting commentary, I wouldn't doubt there would be commentary about escapism and misleading media/info.

[@Perseius1]

And then humans invented Fake News, to destroy the idea of free flow of information.

[@toddkes5890]

@@Perseius1 The information is still there, the key is conditioning people to only accept information from a few (or only one) source and disbelieve all others

[@smal7812]

Enthralling and punchy video, thank you, Just discovered the game after 25 yr of ignorance and oh boy what a blast. Took sick day at work yesterday just so I could study the strategy guide :-D

[@bwcbiz]

"As the Americans learned so painfully in earths' final century..." - Lal's main quote about information and censorship struck a nerve starting with the Snowden revelations and continuing to this day with the disinformation wars.

[@citricdemon]

Yeah he's actually talking about something else though, America collapses after a nuclear war and becomes a theocratic corporate state before the unity leaves.

[@l-y-d-s]

They need to remake it, it’s truly a classic. The characters are memorable. There is real IP value here.

[@synthetic240]

I'd settle for a updated version with redone cinematics, sound effects, and music.

[@nunyabusiness22]

the IP is owned by EA :(

[@noelbahthis8959]

@@nunyabusiness22 NOO

[@wtfronsson]

One of the most atmospheric games, with some proper scifi and strategy.

[@johnpooky84]

I still play this game (and its Alien Crossfire expansion). This is my "Stuck on a desert island with ONE game" game.

[@toddkes5890]

If you want, there is a GURPS roleplaying game book about it too

[@personanonmaga5178]

20 years old and still my favorite strategy game till this day

[@stephenlyon1358]

Learn to overcome fhe crass demands of flesh and bone

[@andersonklein3587]

I love how when Morgan wins he creates heaven on that planet (Eden) and most of humanity ascend to be immortal gods living in fulfilment, exploration, and discovery for millions of years in plenty. Or how by the end of the game thanks to pressure domes and satellites feeding huge cities becomes trivial, with immense energy wealth. Whether it's utopic or dystopic is only a matter of perspective, and how far along the game you are.

[@mattanubis3992]

This is not Morgan's finale. This is the scientific ending.

[@citricdemon]

You're moms has a scientific ending

[@DarkArtistKaiser]

Most if not all scifi strategy games of this type usually looks to the future in the same way the star trek creator did, but Alpha Centauri looked into humanities darkness and predicted very well how many of those new technologies may develop in humanities future. Few games ever truly do it or does it in a very simplistic manner, but Alpha Centauri did it in a way that is thought provoking, questioning the moral ethics of if the advancement of technology in the future really to humanties benefit. Even now we see elements of Alpha Centauris future in our world now as the free flow of information is challenged by even the most democratic of nations, as the development of technology seems more focused on consumer goods, on weapons, and population control. Sister Miriam, who people would rightly call a religious fanatic, also made some profound points, including one for the self aware colony which is something I would not doubt would exist if we had the tech to do it. "Will we next create false gods to rule over us? How proud we have become, and how blind." -Sister Miriam Goodwinson, We Must Dissent.

[@RobertSmith-bz5ug]

It was and still is a fantastic game... I still play it today.

[@kaktotak8267]

"There are a lot of sci-fi grand strategy games out there". False. There are a lot of tech fantasy strategy games. Alpha Centauri is the only sci-fi grand strategy and one of the few sci-fi games out there.

[@DarkArtistKaiser]

A good point. I feel Stellaris would be put in the scifi category since you do do alot of actually scifi stuff as well as even a democracy can be a genocidal nation.

[@pridefulobserver3807]

stellaris is the only other one that comes tomind, but is nowhere as philosophical as SMAC

[@gamingtonight1526]

We are living in an Alpha Centauri and Cyberpunk 2077 world right now.

[@MwazaUmoja]

Great stuff, you and Austin both have the ability to talk about videogames the way Comp Lit PhD students talk about literatute.

[@PolarBear0fDoom]

Wonderful video! Zacny is an awesome addition to waypoint, i love grand strategy games and feel like I dont get it enough from major videogame outlets! I cant wait for more! The waypoint logo pops up at an appropriate time but is far too large and is placed weird, just so you know!

[@captainsawbones]

I always saw the game as more hopeful and even utopian, at least when you go for the special Planet-based ending.

[@FadkinsDiet]

But are they still human individuals?

[@Stikkelsbær]

This game was the most important game of my adolescence. I played the crap out of it. I read the online fiction they released on the website with the game launch. I looked up and read most of the referenced sci. fi. novels that were cited at the back of the user manual, and I even read the novels they released set in the game universe. Herbert definitely had a major influence on this game, but it was more The Jesus Incident and The Green Brain novels than Dune that influenced SMAC. I am hoping to one day see a faith full remaster of SMAC, done with the same reverence as the remaster of Command & Conquer. I can dream...

[@zolafuckass8606]

My favorite thing about Alpha Centauri is the factions. None of them seem outright evil.

[@seatspud]

But here's another thing: which one's are inherently the most good?

[@saubohne]

For me it's the Gaians. Followed by the Peacekeepers. The humanitarian Approach of Lal is very important, but only the Gaians realize that in order to bring out the best in people we need a way to coexist. With each other and with the environment we find ourselves in. "I shall not confront Planet as an enemy, but shall accept its mysteries as gifts to be cherished. Nor shall I crudely seek to peel the layers away like the skin from an onion. Instead I shall gather them together as the tree gathers the breeze. The wind shall blow and I shall bend. The sky shall open and I shall drink my fill." Gaian Acolyte's Prayer

[@LordOblivion2007]

@@saubohne You mean the second worse set of monsters in the game after Yang? The horrifying things they get up to with mindworms in their ecoterrorist agenda cements their place near the bottom of the list. It is true that none of the factions come away looking particularly clean, but some are still clearly worse than the others. The Gaians work very hard to make themselves seem like hippies who want to live in peace and harmony, but their brutality is unmatched by any other faction.

[@augustday9483]

​@@saubohne That's the funny thing. Gaians seem like the most "good" faction on the surface because of their environmentalism and message of living in harmony with Planet, but then you read deeper and discover that they have been using the mind worms as a secret weapon against the other factions in the game, particularly the Spartans. Using mind worms against civilian targets and murdering millions of people in indiscriminate attacks, just to gain an advantage in war. The Gaians are NOT good guys.

[@bugshit]

I wish Rob used his sweet pipes for audiobooks.

[@undefinedother]

We must dissent

[@ProtokSt]

Best short overview of Alpha Centauri which I've seen.

[@raxsavvage]

man i wish this could get a remaster, modernising the hosting system

[@stealthgrrr]

Rob Zacny's floating head approves of Alpha Centauri!

[@AAron-gr3jk]

I've picked it up again and it's still good. wish there was a graphics mod for the terrain but serviceable

[@david8157]

it always struck me as ironic - the humans that escape the human destruction of Earth repeat the same idiocy on Planet

[@harrisonelfrink5676]

To be fair, there are a few factions whose very existence was dedicated to preventing that repeat on Chiron, such as the Gaian Stepdaughters, Peacekeepers, and in a dark, roundabout way, the Human Hive (believing human freedom and liberties caused the fall of mankind Earth). Then you have the capitalist Morganites, the trigger happy Spartans, the fanatically amoralist University, and industry-obsessed Free Drones who are certain to repeat the same mistakes that the Earth humans made.

[@arik_dev]

@@harrisonelfrink5676 The first faction to ever use a planet buster on me.... was the peacekeepers. I didn't buy their speeches about peace after that XD.

[@eval_is_evil]

Best civ type game ever made. I still have the original disc with the beefy user guide/book and tech map poster

[@tomimantyla8236]

I think that is pretty bleak view. You can pursue ecological harmony in the game and become one with native life. I usually target 'Ascent to Transcendence' victory, which is quite comforting destiny for mankind.

[@garwinredman5636]

Will to Power isn't for the weak or hallucinating mystics.

[@SinOfAugust]

Lady Deidra's story seem to have been an uplifting one, if memory serves...

[@Dichtsau]

it was frankly the same story on every faction, with the planet telling each leader the same basics, just with different names & sidekickstories.

[@VittamarFasuthAkbin]

really great review!

[@catscrath25alpha83]

We must dissent...

[@dmon007]

Still my favorite TBS game. Sad that Beyond Earth was such a dud... kickass soundtrack and trailers, tho.

[@aidan8473]

Just got back on that shit. Such a great game.

[@karansena]

why cant you remake this game

[@jeetjerome]

Cause you would never reach its quality from back then. It just would be flawed or ruined.

[@gottagofastest]

@@jeetjerome More like no matter how good it was you would always insist the older game is better through a mix of hipsterism and nostalgia

[@jeetjerome]

​@@gottagofastest nope, i know of a statement by brian reynolds that the computer algorithm is not recreatable. i dont know if its due to copyright reasons or because of technical reasons, but if you compare the later civ algorithms with the one of AC, they are much worse then the one of AC. And on the other hand I am just a good observer: It's not like sid meier or other games devs had endless chances to prove that they could do a better game, but most of them didn't which is based on data collection like meta critics: AC got 92, user 8.8, Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth which is the only one really compareable to AC got a 81 and user 8.3. Or looking at CIV: sid civ IV from 2005 got 94, sid civ V from 2010 got 90, sid civ VI from 2016 got 88, sid civ VI r&f from 2018 got 79. Do you wanna tell me that all critics (based on over 1000 reviews) are just hopelss nostalgists? I dont know if you ever heard of discourse analysis or game theory, but there are actually ways to prove something with logic and science but you are just one of them who proves to me that we are really living in a post-factual age. What I feel is the truth, a scientific approach does not matter. You just could have asked me why I think it is not possible to recreate/remake AC, but instead you just recklessly insulted my opinion. Btw, capcom is doing awesome remakes with resident evil, its not like its actually impossible to deliver good quality but in most cases we just go further down the qualityspiral. Why? Maybe because of shitheads like you, but thats just my opinion.

[@gottagofastest]

@@jeetjerome Still sounds like you're saying older games are always better. Even though you called RE2make awesome I doubt you would consider it better than the original RE2.

[@jeetjerome]

@@gottagofastest what the hell?! What bullshit are you implying? You don't know me! And I consider resident evil 1 and 2 remakes better then the originals because of many reasons! I tried to play res 2 on emulator and it was an aweful expierence cause there is res 4 and 5 which are awesome and better and now res 1 and 2 remake which are better and soon res 3 remake. There is an evolution and I reckognize it and I'm good with it, but shitty remakes are bad if i got reasons to consider them as bad. So, yes sometimes (!) old is gold. Stop grinding my gears, man. And I think you like the new star wars saga! Shame on you ;)

[@aeronomer8389]

Check out Frank Herbert's WorShip series. I saw a lot of similarities when SMAC came out.

[@juliastevenson9079]

Miriam must GO, as it IS her fault.

[@Dichtsau]

miriam just looks like merkel :p

[@toddkes5890]

The fun part is that later in the game, her quotes do make sense. Take "The Self-Aware Colony" quote - "Will we next create false gods to rule over us? How proud we have become, and how blind". She is arguing later that perhaps we should let our morals catch up with what our technology can do.

[@t.wcharles2171]

@@toddkes5890 'we have guided missiles and misguided men.' Dr Martin Luther King Jr.

[@vask92]

What a great game! I love it. Played it a lot before

[@rotmirerob]

Great video! I see you Professa Killah Institute!

[@catscrath25alpha83]

Best game of all time.

[@lorefox201]

no looming ecological disaster today, cultist.

[@karansena]

remake this game

[@oliverlieberman]

Aw robs cute lil face

[@balvsmalvs5425]

Pity that it looks like the remnants from a crap party.

[@TenFeetDown]

Luke warm take.

[@ogaburan]

How can a man speak for 3 minutes and say nothing?

[@ladyhm.6748]

I thought he made some eloquent points. What are you talking about?

[@johannesschmitz6370]

maybe he just didn't understand a word?@@ladyhm.6748

[@cropathfinder]

Very poorly made video on the game i would rather advise people to look up SFdebries analysis and "in character" lets play videos or gaminGHDs rant on its story rather then this

[@nottiredofwinning3736]

mUh pRoPhEsY

[@tuvalutorture]

my parents liked it, so when i got my hands on a vista pc and their copy of the sold out version, i tried it, and doing pretty well