alanschu

The Social Engineering was fantastic (even if I tended to not be experimental at the time). Civ 4 had something similar with its civics, and Civ 5 tried a different iteration (with a bit less success, IMO). What Terraforming was there again? It's been so long. I remember UN voting to alter solar exposure which would change sea levels, and planting forests. Anything else? The Diplomacy aspects were great too. I loved the council, and passing measures. Civ games have sort of had this, but AC's seemed a bit more varied and interesting. Might just be nostalgia, however. Civ also has the disadvantage of "International politicking doesn't exist until later in the game" which AC doesn't suffer from.

Hopefully Feargus is able to make a successful pitch. They seem pretty stoked on doing it, which is what I like to see in a developer!

What specifically are the features that you would want bear man? I guess, what is it specifically that separates an Alpha Centauri from current incarnations of Civ? If it's just the setting, then you don't need to buy an IP for that unless you feel that the game must be called Alpha Centauri in order to get the warm fuzzy feelings. For myself, it's a great strategy game that had a strong narrative. Many of the gameplay elements were very familiar to any Civ veteran, with some exceptions (unit customization being the biggest one, but there are some others). What else should be listed?

Well, in terms of Firaxis' needs, Call to Power's performance is mostly irrelevant. I'd probably agree. Civ4 was such a solid game IMO. I still remember the outcry when they removed "offensive" and "defensive" attack values haha.

The Escapist does mention it's the worst selling of all the Civ games. Speculates that that, as well as possibly Reynolds not being involved, are primary contributors.

EDIT: I may have jumped on this article a bit too early. Corroborating evidence shows that she's actually intended on being a zombie. -10 cred to me! I stumbled upon this: http://www.policymic.com/articles/40049/nra-sells-an-ex-girlfriend-target-that-bleeds-when-you-shoot-it

And they did! \o/

Admittedly I saw the factions mostly as "colours." I didn't care much for the story at the time, as I picked it up for strategy gaming. I am guessing I'll be picking up the game again via GOG soon... I'm curious if it was seen as "not worth the effort" because of people like me? Or just in general. I typically saw Alpha Centauri as a "Sequel" to Civilization with the space victory, but despite absurd critical success (well deserved), I wonder if maybe it underperformed sales wise.

Glad you're enjoying it though! In some ways F2P can be similar to Shareware/Demos and it seems like that's how it worked for you. I was glad it went F2P simply because I enjoyed the writing and figured any who wanted the story but didn't care for the MMO fees would still approve.

Huh. I was expecting EA's FY13 to be much worse than it was. Net Income was $98 million, up from $76 million (which isn't very much of an improvement, but I was curious if they'd post a loss).

Interesting. I actually don't know very much about the monetization policies of the game. I was under the impression that subscribers got access to everything. What exactly is the "cartel market outside their subscription" referring to?

Free to play has apparently been good to SWTOR I always find it interesting that this model can work. Though I guess the subscriber base didn't change a whole lot, but the influx of F2P players has helped out (while helping populate the servers more).

Oh I understand, it's just something that I never recall using. I wonder if the game succeeded (at least critically) in part because it could appeal to both roleplayers and strategy gamers.

That won't work, however, since it's not like the experiences are shared!

Yeah, I am about 6 or 7 hours in and having a lot of fun with Tomb Raider too. I think they did a great job with Lara's character.

I find that interesting, because I don't even recall a "blind research" option. I was more just discussing the fact that it's researching new things. No level of "If I research Iron, I know I'll get swordsmen." I wonder if there's a level of "RPG gamer" vs "Strategy gamer" element at work here, and that Alpha Centauri has a stronger appeal to RPG/Narrative type experience compared to Civ (which is more through and through just "strategy")

Michael Biehn >.>

What game is that Crimson?

That is true. I think that that is the strongest aspect of Alpha Centauri. The Civics was phenomenal as well (although I typically didn't deviate from my favourites, mostly because I was dumb). Civ has the problem of not really having any "surprises" when it comes to the tech tree, whereas it's a fresh new journey for Alpha Centauri.

I agree that the gameplay of Civ4 is much, much stronger than Alpha Centauri. I haven't played Alpha Centauri in soooooooooooo long that I should give it an assessment again. Though admittedly there is some level of being afraid of nostalgia.

I need to go back and play those DOW2 expansions. But first, Tomb Raider.

That actually sounds pertty awesome XD

Fair point. Looking back, I realize that I made the assumption that you were referring to an Obsidian developed one (since I was). You didn't actually say so. Of course, my working for BioWare gives me insight on how likely a KOTOR 3 being made by us really is. Though that's about all I can really say on the matter.

Better effort this time Cultist (although I don't know if you made that). Though I don't think that "[Kiss Titus]" is appropriate in that slot. I'd go... "We fight or we die!"

Yes, Obsidian did use something similar to the dialogue wheel with Alpha Protocol. That's hardly evidence that they'd feel compelled to use it for any hypothetical KOTOR 3. Especially since the game that they created afterwards, Fallout: New Vegas, used the more traditional dialogue lines. They clearly don't feel obligated to use dialogue wheels. You appear to be arguing for the sake of arguing, as this comment is completely irrelevant to the point I made. My statement for EA "requiring" it was specifically in regards to a hypothetical KOTOR 3 that Obsidian would make. That the BioWare division of EA opted to go for it was a decision that the BioWare studio decided to do for our own reasons and benefits. Again, there's little reason for EA to require Obsidian to use a dialogue wheel for any hypothetical KOTOR 3 that is in development. For reference point, since it seems you missed it, this was the quote I was referring to (emphasis mine)