Vote for SMAC2 at firaxis.com

[candle_86]

I voted for Colonization way back when and revoted for SMAC now. ITs not fair really, they are both great games, and both deserve a soild remake, just i want more than isometric view also. I want good gameplay, not Civ III all over agian, but i also wouldnt mind full rendered 3d either.

[wodan11]

Re: It's Still Up and SMAC2 is Still Number One

My purpose in selecting SMAC2 is a simple wish that the bugs in SMAC and SMAX be cleaned out. For me the game is thoroughly enjoyable as it is despite those bugs.

It would be nice if they improved the game balance a little.

Regardless, the game "as it is" is not enjoyable to me.

Simple reason: my copy is for Mac and I have a PC these days, and SMAC/SMAX is not available except on the black market (from dubious sellers for exorbitant prices).

So, let's see a re-release. Give it new graphics while we're at it. While some don't need them, some do, and it will increase sales. Perhaps as an expansion for CIV4.

Wodan

[vyeh]

Re: Re: It's Still Up and SMAC2 is Still Number One

Originally posted by wodan11
Simple reason: my copy is for Mac and I have a PC these days, and SMAC/SMAX is not available except on the black market (from dubious sellers for exorbitant prices).

So, let's see a re-release. Give it new graphics while we're at it. While some don't need them, some do, and it will increase sales.

Having followed the price of SMAC/SMAX on eBay, a Mac copy of SMAC goes for around $35 and a Mac copy of SMAX around $45. You should sell your Mac copy and then buy a PC copy if the price is right.

Graphics can be very expensive. Without some research, it isn't clear that new graphics would increase sales enough to warrant it.

[Zoid]

Is this poll still open??? It's been what? 2 years since it started? If this is any indication we might (possibly) see SMAC2 sometime around 2020...

[Nugog]

Man - Firaxis should just change the name of the planet the spaceship goes to in BtS or Civ 5, then they will not have the copyright issues with the name of SMAC2..................

[pertrygve]

I don't think there is a need for Col 2 since there is freecol beeing made. I voted years ago for SMAC and did again now.

[Zoid]

Originally posted by Nugog
Man - Firaxis should just change the name of the planet the spaceship goes to in BtS or Civ 5, then they will not have the copyright issues with the name of SMAC2..................

This won't do any good. If they make another game with a similar concept they can still get their asses sued for copyright infringement.

[Slaughtergaard]

Why can't they buy the rights for Alpha Centauri? It's not like EA is going to use them...

[.HUSH.]

OMG! we cant vote anymore!?!?!?!?!
WAHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
who won? what do we get? what will it be like????
BAH!

[Mart]

I have impression SMAC2 is not happening due to prediction of relatively low sales. I remember opinion that SMAC did not sell as well as wanted to. Sci-fi is freaky enough to majority of people. EA might probably sell the rights for a price somewhat high and then the new title would have to make sufficient profit. It's borderline I think - franchise rights + production cost vs. predicted profit

[dojoboy]

I think it's quite possible that "SMAC2" comes to life on the console, now w/ CivRev breaking ground.

[Darsnan]

Well the poll is finally gone at Firaxis. This thread can now be de-topped I think.

btw SMAC2 was in the lead last time I checked, having garnered something on the order of 46% of the vote. Next closest was Col2 with around 26%.

D

Edit: hmmm, interesting: results are back! Wonder if they had a minor glitch at their website?

[Maniac]

Originally posted by dojoboy
I think it's quite possible that "SMAC2" comes to life on the console, now w/ CivRev breaking ground.

Please no - it'll be simplified because console doesn't allow complex user input - no keyboard and all that.

[dojoboy]

Originally posted by dojoboy
I think it's quite possible that "SMAC2" comes to life on the console, now w/ CivRev breaking ground.

I would absolutely love SMAC2 on the DS, but I'd prefer it for my desktop.

[T.C.]

I'm a fan of Alpha Centauri. For me, most games become uninteresting after I've played them one or two times, but not Alpha Centauri; I've been playing it since 1999, and I've never grown tired of it.

Although I'm a fan, I've never visited Apolyton before. I wandered across the forum today and discovered this thread on the prospect of an Alpha Centauri remake. I would like to see a remake, and I agree it is long overdue. However, I also feel the need to express my pessimism on the subject.

For the past nine years, game developers have failed to produce anything similar to Alpha Centauri because the gameplay of Alpha Centauri has a limited appeal. We who like the flavor of Alpha Centauri are a small and unprofitable market. Games simply aren't made for us.

Therefore, I propose that if Firaxis makes a new version of Alpha Centauri, they also will not make it for us. They will retain the superficial aspects of the game -- the storyline, the factions, the units, etc. -- but they will not retain the special blend of pace, management depth, strategy, etc. which makes Alpha Centauri special. Instead, they will aim to satisfy the tastes of a broad market; in doing so, will achieve a product which feels, to us, not like Alpha Centauri at all.

I'm not a hard-core gamer, but I've played Civilization 2, 3, and 4. I've also played Railroad Tycoon and the new Railroads. In both series, it seems clear that Firaxis is following the arc I described above. Sequels retain the theme of the original, but undergo changes in their strategic gamplay which are clearly designed to satisfy other people (presumably most people), but not me. It seems inevitable that the same will happen to Alpha Centauri.

I fully expect to someday play a game which improves on Alpha Centauri, but I doubt it will be soon, and I doubt it will be a remake. Five or ten years from now, when the game market is more mature, someone will take an interest in our little niche market and, like Sergio Leone paying tribute to the westerns of John Ford, will quite unexpectedly produce a game very unlike Alpha Centauri, yet more faithfully like it than any mainstream product or Firaxis sequel we've seen.

-TC