User:Alyo/sandbox/SMAC

Note to Reviewers
The New Gameplay section is a proposed replacement of the Gameplay section in Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. Please note that section follows the "Plot" section in the article and it might be helpful to read that section first (the lead section is meant to summarize the article and will be revised once the article is finished). After this section is the Development section, which is pretty complete, the Reception section (with Critical Reaction and Awards), which still needs work, and the Legacy section, which needs a lot of work. Comments should be left on the talk page of this sandbox (click on the "Discussion" tab above). Vyeh (talk) 21:26, 28 August 2010 (UTC)

Gameplay Checklist

 * We need to spell out the four victory conditions (Conquest, Building Ascent SP, Outgrowing everybody, Economic) for a coalition.
 * We should say that the resources to achieve these victory conditions (or prevent someone else achieving these victory conditions) comes from the terrain modified by terraforming, facilities, secret projects, faction bonuses and social engineering.
 * We should talk about technology, which increases options for terraforming, facilities, secret projects and social engineering.
 * We should talk about diplomacy and commerce. (This would include the Planetary Council.)
 * We should talk about difficulty level.
 * We should talk about modifications (changing game rules, random maps, custom maps, custom factions, scenarios).
 * We should talk about multiplayer. For MP, there are two versions (sequential, which can occur through "hot seat" play or PBEM, andsimultaneous )
 * Modifications Customization should be developed
 * Discuss the customization that is available when a game is set up
 * Start with using a random or custom map instead of the Map of PlanetShould quickly discuss customization of random map (single sentence saying choice of size, ocean coverage, erosive forces, native life forms, and cloud cover)
 * Talk about disabling one or more victory conditions
 * Directed versus blind research
 * Visible or no visible world map
 * Discuss scenarios
 * After that custom factions and alphax.txt modifications.
 * We may want to consider probe teams (this can go into diplomacy)
 * Native life (and we could mention psi combat in passing)
 * Social engineering (which can probably go into the paragraph about factions)
 * It is probably worth mentioning the customization of units
 * Ecology
 * Random Natural Phenomena
 * Economics
 * Unity pods
 * Landmarks
 * Obviously, we want to be careful about gamecruft, but this section should be written so a general reader can grasp the major concepts.
 * Paragraph on Datalinks reads like an advert/OR

From Kilkakon (see talk page):

 * "SMAC is a turn-based strategy god game conducted from the third-person, isometric perspective." "god game" is a weasel term. It's probably not needed if one mentions the third-person, isometric perspective.
 * "While factions receives different bonuses and penalties encouraging strategies related to their ideologies, the player may deviate from those strategies to expand and to fight other factions." Grammar: factions recieve
 * "....players establish bases (cities), build facilities (buildings) and secret projects (Great Wonders),..." Wonders in Civ 2 were known as Wonders of the World.
 * "...players may also win by controlling three quarters of the total population..." "...which determines a 3/4 population victory (winning by population)..." If this is Diplomatic, then I'm not sure if it this generates the correct idea. This implies a Dominance victory (ala Civ 4).
 * "The main map (see the image on the right) is the playing surface, where players establishes bases, explore territory and move units." Grammar: players establish
 * "...winning options." I would use strategies instead of options here.
 * "Diplomacy introduces the element of cooperation, which is missing in many strategy games that focuses solely on the fighting aspects." Grammar: strategy games that focus
 * "Energy reserves allow a player to build units, facilities and secret projects" Perhaps clarify that using energy is a non-standard way to build, as in normally minerals are what do the producing of stuff.
 * "Although SMAC is complicated, the Datalinks, voiced by Robert Levy and Katherine Ferguson, provide information on everything in the game, including the Technology tree, which displays what technologies lead to which faction and unit upgrades and the more advanced technologies that can be unlocked." This probably should be a new paragraph rather than running into the previous one.
 * "SMAC comes with ten pre-designed scenarios. Three are scenarios." 10 or 3?
 * "SMAC introduces direct player-to-player negotiation to multiplayer games, which also includes the player-to-computer diplomacy present in previous Civilization games." Player-to-computer diplomacy in single player probably would make more sense.
 * "solitaire play" "Solitaire play" is a weasel term. I don't know what it even means! :lol:
 * Obviously there are also a lot of places were links should be placed. There's the possibility of mentioning that the diplomacy text is a lot nicer than Civ, although that's only something that I find really awesome. :) I've ignored American spelling which mades me groan but hey Wikipedia is American anyway. :rolleyes:

Nolelover's third round comments

 * 1) ...is a third person game (conducted?) from the third person. I think we need a verb there.
 * 2) ...with many ("of its"? or maybe "game"?) elements renamed... I'm not sure what you've said on that one, as I haven't read all the commentary.
 * 3) " ...and conquer other factions (civilizations). In addition to eliminating all non-allied factions..." We need a transition there. Maybe "and conquer other factions to achieve victory."
 * 4) "conduct combat." Awkward. Nevermind
 * 5) "The map is divided into map squares, which affect movement, combat and resources and which players may modify through terraforming." Awkward, because "which affect movement" looks like a parenthetical phrase, and then there's another "which". Could we break it up?
 * 6) "and cornering the Global Energy Market" Again, a little awkward. See below
 * 7) "Starting from initial ideologically-based". Can we change that to "Starting with"? Maybe get a synonym for the second "bases and penalties"?
 * 8) In the third paragraph, we say "players use" three times in a row.
 * 9) "SMAC also incorporates "space-based" That "also" is kind of coming out of nowhere. We can flip the sentence around, that might fix it.
 * 10) "scenario and map editing and plain text file editing" I can't stand using the same verb twice in sentences. Can we change the second usage to "modification"?
 * 11) Last paragraph: The last sentences are a bit choppy.
 * 12) "the modification of SMAC's plain text game files" Is "plain" needed?
 * "which increases gaming options, and the economy, which supports unit upgrades," I'm not sure "economy" is the best word. Either way, it needs to agree with "cornering the...Market."

Setting
SMAC takes place in the Civilization universe, and begins in the 22nd century, following the space-race victory in Civilization II. The premise is that the United Nations has sent the "Unity" colonization mission to the Alpha Centauri planet Chiron ("Planet"). Advanced aliens previously conducted an experiment in planetary-level sentience on Planet, leaving behind monoliths and artifacts. The experiment was a disaster, creating a hundred-million-year evolutionary cycle ending in the death of all animal life. After the disaster, the aliens split into the Manifold Caretakers, who opposed further experimentation, and the Manifold Usurpers, who favored further experimentation. Immediately prior to the start of the game, a reactor malfunction wakes the crew and colonists early and irreparably severs communications with Earth. After the captain is assassinated, the most powerful leaders on board build ideological factions with dedicated followers, conflicting agendas for the future of mankind, and "desperately serious" commitments. As the ship breaks up, Unity pods and seven escape pods, each containing a faction, are scattered across Planet. The game takes place on Planet with its distinctive landmarks, "rolling red ochre plains", and "bands of lonely terraformed green".

Characters
The game focuses on the leaders of seven factions, chosen by the player from the fourteen leaders in SMAC and SMAX, and Planet (voiced by Alena Kanka). The game develops these characters from the faction leaders' portraits, the spoken monologues accompanying scientific discovery and the "photographs in the corner of a commlink – home towns, first steps, first loves, family, graduation, spacewalk." The leaders in SMAC comprise: Lady Deirdre Skye (voiced by Carolyn Dahl) of Gaia's Stepdaughters, Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang (voiced by Lu Yu) of the Human Hive, Academician Prokhor Zakharov (voice by Yuri Nesteroff) of the University of Planet, CEO Nwabudike Morgan (voiced by Regi Davis) of Morgan Industries, Colonel Corazon Santiago (voiced by Wanda Nino) of the Spartan Federation, Sister Miriam Godwinson (voiced by Gretchen Weigel) of The Lord's Believers, and Commissioner Pravin Lal (voiced by Hesh Gordon) of The Peacekeeping Forces. The seven faction leaders in SMAX are Prime Function Aki Zeta-Five (voiced by Allie Rivenbark) of The Cybernetic Consciousness, Captain Ulrik Svensgaard (voiced by James Liebman) of The Nautilus Pirates, Foreman Domai (voiced by Frederick Serafin) of The Free Drones, Datajack Sinder Roze (voiced by Christine Melton) of The Data Angels, Prophet Cha Dawn (voiced by Stacy Spenser) of The Cult of Planet, Guardian Lular H'minee (voiced by Jeff Gordon) of The Manifold Caretakers, and Conquerer Judaa Maar (voiced by Jeff Gordon) of The Manifold Usurpers. The player controls one of the leaders and competes against the others to colonize and conquer Planet. The Datalinks (voiced by Robert Levy and Katherine Ferguson) are minor characters, who provide information to the player. Each faction excels at one or two important aspects of the game and follows a distinct philosophical belief, such as technological utopianism, environmentalism, capitalism, militarism, anti-authoritarianism, piracy, and classic liberalism.

Story
The story unfolds via the introduction video, explanations of new technologies, videos obtained for completing secret projects, and cut-scenes. The native life consists primarily of simple wormlike aliens and a type of red fungus. The fungus is difficult to traverse, provides invisibility for the enemy, provides little mineral or energy, and spawns "mindworms" that attack bases and units with a neural attack. Mindworms can be captured or bred in captivity and used as weapons. The player discovers that the fungus and mindworms can think collectively. Soon the player dreams of a voice The voice later intrudes into waking moments, threatening more attacks if the pollution and corruption caused by humans goes unchecked. The player eventually discovers that Planet is a semi-dormant sentient hive organism that will soon experience a metamorphosis which will destroy all human life. To counter this threat, the player or a computer faction builds "The Voice of Alpha Centauri" secret project, which delays the metamorphosis and increases the intelligence of the hive organism. Finally, the player or the computer embraces the "Ascent to Transcendence" in which humans join the hive organism in "godhood". Alpha Centauri closes "with a swell of hope and wonder in place of the expected triumphalism", reassuring "that the events of the game weren’t the entirety of mankind’s future, but just another step."

New Gameplay
SMAC is a turn-based strategy game with a science fiction setting and played from a third-person, isometric perspective. Many game features from Civilization II are present, but renamed or slightly tweaked: players establish bases (cities), build facilities (buildings) and secret projects (Wonders of the World), explore territory, research technology, and conquer other factions (civilizations). In addition to conquering all non-allied factions, players may also win by controlling three quarters of the total population (similar to Civilization IV's Dominance victory), "cornering the Global Energy Market", completing the Ascent to Transcendence secret project, or for alien factions, constructing six Subspace Generators.

The main map (the upper two thirds of the screenshot) is divided into squares, on which players can establish bases, move units and engage in combat. Through terraforming, players may modify the effects of the individual map squares on movement, combat and resources. Resources feed the population, construct units and facilities, and supply energy. Player can allocate energy between research into new technology and energy reserves. Unlike Civilization II, new technology grants access to additional unit components rather than pre-designed units, allowing players to design and re-design units as their factions' priorities shift. Energy reserves allow the player to upgrade units, maintain facilities, and corner the Global Energy Market. Bases are military strongpoints and objectives that are vital for all winning strategies. They produce military units, house the population, collect energy, and build secret projects and Subspace Generators. Facilities and secret projects improve the performance of individual bases and the entire faction.

In addition to terraforming, optimizing individual base performance and building secret projects, players may also benefit their factions through social engineering, probe teams, and diplomacy. Social engineering modifies the ideologically-based bonuses and penalties forced by the player's choice of faction. Probe teams steal information, units, technology, energy, and bases; sabotage enemy bases; and reinstate defeated factions. Diplomacy creates winning coalitions and allows the trade or transfer of units, bases, technology and energy. The Planetary Council, similar to the United Nations Security Council, takes Chiron-wide actions and determines a 3⁄4 population victory.

In addition to futuristic technological advances and secret projects, the game includes alien life, structures and machines. "Xenofungus" and "sea fungus" provide movement, combat, resource penalties, and concealment for "mindworms" and "spore launchers." Immobile "fungal towers" spawn native life. Native life, including the seaborne "Isles of the Deep" and "Sealurks" and airborne "Locusts of Chiron," use psionic combat, an alternate form of combat which ignores weapons and armor. Monoliths repair units and provide resources; artifacts yield new technology and hasten secret projects; landmarks provide resource bonuses; and random events add danger and opportunity. Excessive development leads to terraforming-destroying fungus blooms and new native life.

SMAC provides a single player mode and supports customization and multiplayer. Players may customize the game by choosing options at the beginning of the game, using the built-in scenario and map editors, and modifying SMAC's game files. In addition to a choice of seven (or fourteen in SMAX) factions, pre-game options include scenario game, customized random map, difficulty level, and game rules that include victory conditions, research control, and initial map knowledge. The scenario and map editors allow players to create customized scenarios and maps. The game's basic rules, diplomatic dialog, and the factions' starting abilities are in text files, which "the designers have done their best to make it reasonably easy to modify..., even for non-programmers." SMAC supports play by email ("PBEM") and TCP/IP mode featuring simultaneous movement, and introduces direct player-to-player negotiation, allowing the unconstrained trade of technology, energy, maps, and other elements.