Nostalgia and Desire for Playable Classic Games
The discussion is kicked off by a yearning for easily accessible versions of classic games, specifically Civilization II. "wing-_-nuts" expresses a desire for a hassle-free experience on modern systems, stating: "If gog ever manages to get the rights to rerelease civ II, I'd gladly pay $80 for a copy I could just click and run on windows and linux." The user details frustrating experiences with abandonware versions and emulation attempts: "Yes, there are copies on abandonware sites, but the sound is almost always jank, the soundtrack is gone and the advisors don't work... the nostalgia of childhood is broken. I've tried everything, up to and including running win 3.1 with sound blaster drivers on dosbox to no avail."
Solutions and Alternatives for Playing Old Games
Several users offer practical advice and alternatives. "glimshe" suggests: "You can buy an original copy of the game on eBay and run it in Dosbox-X or Dosbox-staging, both well ahead vanilla Dosbox in features. Also, I bet the Internet archive or exoDOS will have a perfect copy. The latter is a one click experience." Similarly, "piltdownman" points to specific patches and emulation methods: "Run The Macintosh edition CivII Gold using PPC Mac Emulation on Windows (Basilisk or whatever you find easiest) or run it on x64 Windows using the civ2xp64patcher." "mirashii" also points to community resources that offer pre-packaged solutions.
The Enduring Appeal of Alpha Centauri
Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (SMAC) receives significant praise, being considered a more thought-provoking and relevant game than later Civilization titles. "swyx" captures this sentiment perfectly: "Alas, today Alpha Centuari feels far more believable than Civilization and its sang-froid about the inevitability of perpetual progress... People play Alpha Centauri to engage with modern life; they play Civilization to escape from it." "ptmcc" adds, "SMAC was a really great game, ahead of its time in many ways and laid some groundwork for ideas later worked into Civs 3+." "georgeecollins" even contends that "SMAC might be my choice! It was only a single player game but as a single player game it had great balance and strategic choices."
Narrative Depth and Worldbuilding in Alpha Centauri
A major theme is the exceptional narrative depth and world-building of Alpha Centauri, particularly its incorporation of compelling quotes and faction identities. "GauntletWizard" explains, "What really set Alpha Centauri apart for me was the fictional history and how it is presented... Alpha Centauri presents its tech to you the same way, but it's inventions are science fiction, and likewise the quotes are fictional, from the important characters, the major players of the various factions within." The user even includes a quote from Commissioner Pravin Lal that many find surprisingly relevant today. "Quarrelsome" agrees, emphasizing the power of the audio snippets and how they contributed to the plot.
The Desire for an Open-Source Alpha Centauri
The strong appreciation for Alpha Centauri leads to desire for an open-source remake. "swyx" asks, "so like, i know there are some civ clones out there... has anyone tried to make an OpenAlphaCentauri? i'd love to hack on this but i dont have the time or gamedev experience to take it 0 to 1...." "mirashii" provides a pointer to an existing project ("https://github.com/afwbkbc/glsmac").
Flaws in the 4X Genre and Ideas for Innovation
Several users touch upon perceived flaws in gameplay inherent to the 4X genre and propose ideas for new game mechanics. "Quarrelsome" states a bold opinion: "IMHO the best 4x game that will come out at some point in the future won't actually follow the 4x format." This user points out issues like snowballing and AI difficulty. "card_zero" suggests a first-person 4X with limited information to address "complexity in control that spirals once your civ blobs."
Appreciation for Games Inspired by Science Fiction
Several users commented about the ways Alpha Centauri was heavily influenced by science fiction, specifically, Frank Herbert's novels. "Pxtl" states about the game designers, "If anything it understates how obviously influenced the designers were by Frank Herbert's novels." The user makes reference to the use of quotes in both, the similar transhumanist themes and a parallel between the Human Hive in Hellstrom's Hive and a mechanic in the game.