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Let's Play Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri!

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Azzuro:
I'm back, after a long semester of school. And it's time to make another LP! (I apologize for once again letting the Apocalypse thread die out)

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri is a Civilization-style 4X game set in the distant future. In the 22nd century, mankind has collapsed, and the UN starship Unity was sent to the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri, to colonize and set up a new civilization. The game presumably takes place after Civ's tech-victory (building a starship). The gameplay is also similar to Civ, but introduces new aspects, such as climate simulations, custom units, social engineering and more victory conditions.

Unlike Civilization however, Alpha Centauri has had no sequels and one expansion pack (Alien Crossfire) due to its poor sales. I won't be playing with Alien Crossfire.

With that out of the way, on to the LP. Before I can start, I need you to decide what our planet will be like.

--- Quote ---Map of Planet/Huge Map of Planet: Similar to the 'Earth' map in Civ, with a predetermined location for everything. I don't like using this one, as it takes away from some of the "exploring" since you know where everything is.
Customize Map: Planet size can be tiny, small, standard, large or huge. I prefer huge, as it gives your faction space to build.
Oceans can cover 30-50%, 50-70% or 70-90% of Planet. This controls amount of water and whether there will be huge continents or archipelagos of many islands. I usually have it at 50-70%
Erosive forces can be strong, average or weak. This controls how hilly the terrain is. I usually have it at average.
Native life can be rare, average or abundant. This controls how much native life will populate Planet. I usually have it at average. Note that this option can affect final score. (-25% for rare, +25% for abundant)
Cloud cover can be sparse, average or dense. This controls how much vegetation will occur. I usually have it at average.
Or you can ignore all these options and go for Random Map.

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Apart from picking the map, you also get to choose factions. Each faction has unique bonuses and downsides. I'm too lazy to type out everything, so I'll copy this from Pandarsenic's old thread.

--- Quote ---Which faction are we?
Spoiler (click to show/hide)= Spartan Federation - Unashamed warmongers. Their priorities lie in big guns and... no, wait, that's about it. Maybe some armor occasionally. Mostly guns though. Going for a nonmilitary victory would be... interesting... with this faction. +2 Morale, +1 Police, -1 Industry; prototypes do not cost extra minerals. Banned from the Wealth Value for Social Engineering, starts with technology Doctrine: Mobility.

= Gaia's Stepdaughters - Elves. No, srsly. Quoth the wikipedia, "The Gaians are a faction that values living in ecological harmony with Planet and abhors ecological destruction." +2 Efficiency, +1 Planet, -1 Morale. -1 Police; +1 nutrients in fungus squares, start with Centauri Ecology tech, cannot use Free Market Economics for Social Engineering

= University of Planet - My favorite faction, the University is research based. Depending on what you research, you may have other factions telling you to fear their infantry with second-level armor while your battlecruisers escort a Destroyer Transport with four rovers which all have the sixth-level weapon. Or you may have airplanes by that point. Again, it depends on what you research. +2 Research, -2 Probe; free Network Node in each base; one additional drone for every four citizens in all bases, start with a free technology of our choice as well as the Information Networks technology, cannot use Fundamentalist Government for Social Engineering (that government sucks anyway if you ask me. :I)

= Peacekeeping Forces - With that name, you might expect these guys to be pushovers and/or total wusses. They aren't. Their bases are almost guaranteed to be superior to other factions' with the Talent bonus (basically a free specialist) and their military units have a power bonus. -1 Efficiency; one additional talent for every four citizens in each base, double votes in Planetary Governor/Supreme Leader, starts with Biogenetics tech, may not use Police State Government for Social Engineering.

= Human Hive - People's Republic of Chiron, basically. Hardcore commies with a brainwashed devoted populace, the Hive is somewhat zerglike with their growth and industry bonuses. +1 Growth, +1 Industry, -2 Economy; free Perimeter Defense in each base, immune to negative Efficiency in social engineering table, may not use Democratic Government for Social Engineering, start with the technology Doctrine: Loyalty.

= Lord's Believers - For the Overmind! The Believers are crazed Christians with an insatiable appetite for violence and a fear of all technology. +2 Support, +1 Probe, -2 Research, -1 Planet; +25% bonus when attacking, start with Social Psych technology, can't prioritize Knowledge Value for Social Engineering. If you want stupid, violent fanatics, this is the faction to choose. However, we aren't going to get any atrocity-level weapons any time soon if we choose them. And that's saddening.

= Morgan Industries - The only regret we'll have as Morgan Industries is that rolling in digital money is impossible. Start with Industrial Base technology, cannot use Planned Economy or Green Economics for Social Engineering, +1 economy, -1 support, extra 100 credits at beginning, hab complex needed to expand base beyond 4, gain extra energy through commerce
--- End quote ---

Also, there's some miscellaneous options:

--- Quote ---Difficulty Level is self-explanatory. In ascending order, they are Citizen, Specialist, Talent, Liberian, Thinker and Transcend. I haven't managed to win on Thinker or Transcend difficulty with the harder factions.
Customized Rules. Unless anyone has strenuous objections, I'll be playing with all victory conditions enabled, No Unity Scattering/Survey and Iron Man (no savescum). Everything else is off.

--- End quote ---


Finally, the most important part of any LP: Audience Participation! You all get to be my advisors, tell me what to research, put in base names, design and name unit types, make diplomatic decisions, etc. There will be no player character in-game named after you. The closest you can get to being in-game is having something named after you. If no suggestions are offered toward a particular path, I will do as I deem fit. I will be presenting a semi-realistic narration like my previous X-COM LP, but from different points of view.

breadbocks:
Tiny map, 70-90% ocean, strong erosion,, abundant wildlife, dense clouds, Morgan, Transcend, go.

You'll need Iron Man off for this.

Myroc:
Spartans! They tear apart almost everyone. I've never really seen the industry penalty to be significant, I keep outproducing everyone else anyway, and it can be offsetted by using Planned economics anyway.

Edit: I mean really. The only time it starts to bring you down is when you start using Power as a value... which feels rather unneccesary, since as Spartans you should wind up with all the Secret Projects that provide free morale-increasing buildings in each base (Command Nexus, Maritime Control Center, and the Bioenhancement Center or whatever it was called). 2 morale from inherent spartan advantages + 2 from free Command Center/Naval Yard + 2 from free Cyborg factory. = 6 and maximum morale.

Edit Edit: The only disadvantage this has is that there is no secret project for free Aerospace Complexes so you'd have to build one to get maximum morale from the get go on aircraft, but 4 morale isn't too shabby either.

Ultimuh:
University of Planet would be what I would choose.

Reelyanoob:
Love this game. My first choice would be the Hive. Barring that I'll second Spartans.

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