Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire

Infobox VG
title = Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire


developer = Firaxis Games
publisher = Electronic Arts (Windows)
Loki Software (Linux)
Aspyr (Mac OS)
distributor =
designer = Timothy Train
Douglas Kaufman
Chris Pine
Gregory Foertsch
Michael Ely
Bing Gordon
Sid Meier
engine =
version =
released = September 1999 (Windows)
genre = Turn-based strategy (4X)
modes = Single player; multiplayer (over IPX, TCP/IP or modem)
ratings = ESRB: E (Everyone)
platforms = Windows, Linux, Mac OS
media = CD (1)
requirements = P133 MHz CPU, 16 MB RAM, 60 MB HD
input = Keyboard, mouse

"Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire", published in September 1999, is an expansion pack for "Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri", a turn-based strategic 4X computer game. It was designed by Timothy Train and other members of Firaxis Games. "Alien Crossfire" features seven new factions (two of which are non-human) and multiple new technologies. The game initially had a single production run. Combined with its highly customizable nature, Alien Crossfire thus became an extremely rare game. The CD itself can fetch over a $100 US on internet auction sites.

The editable nature of the game allows for a large degree of customization and has led to the creation of a number of mods and custom factions which other users can download to expand their gameplay. Several sites have sprung up to support and distribute these files.

EA included both Alpha Centauri and Alien Crossfire in some of its various collections of older computer games. The most common set described itself as a "laptop gamers" collection (it included the newest Tiger Woods game, in a production error).

Main differences

The main storyline element added to the game is the "alien crossfire" itself. The two alien Progenitor factions are locked in a civil war: one side, the Usurpers, wishes to exploit Manifold Six (the Progenitor name for Planet) for military purposes; the other side, the Caretakers, wishes to prevent this and leave the planet alone. Both factions sent ships to Manifold Six to settle the matter once and for all. Unfortunately for them (but probably fortunately for the human factions on Planet), the battle went badly for both sides and they ended up crash-landing on Planet. Lost in the crash are countless alien lives and virtually all of the alien research and technology. Their civil war continues, however, and both factions dream of the day that they can send for reinforcements and crush the other faction.

The Progenitors themselves resemble squid-like aliens, in general a Progenitor has two horns on its "nose" and two horns in-between its bug-like mouth. The Caretakers have flesh-colored skin and black tentacles growing out of the side of their head, they are portrayed as being moralistic and accuse the Usurpers of destroying neighboring systems. The Usurpers have pale green skin and do not have tentacles growing out of the side of their heads they portray themselves as being liberal their leader states they have the "Courage to question" but it's quite obvious they're doing it out of sheer greed. Progenitor factions have the ability to always target research (human factions, by default, can only choose general research paths.) In addition, the Progenitors have a unique victory condition - by researching up the tech tree, they can eventually build a Resonance Communicator, allowing them to summon the bulk of their forces to Chiron, overwhelming all other factions.

Initially, Progenitors and humans cannot confer with each other - they must research the appropriate technology (Progenitor Psych for human factions, Social Psych for Progenitor factions) to understand how to communicate between the species. Also, Progenitor and human living requirements are radically different - when one species takes over a city of the other species, those residents that survive the conquest are forced out in Colony Pods. Since the two sides belong to different species, they are also able to commit atrocities, such as destroying bases and using nerve gas, against each other without fear of political repercussions. The only exception to this is the use of planet-busters since it affects Planet negatively.

Factions

In addition to the original seven factions, the expansion pack includes seven new factions, plus a hidden 'bonus' faction.

Although there are a total of 14 factions, only seven factions may appear in one game. The player may choose any combination of original and new factions when starting a game.

Cult of Planet

Fanatical worshipers of Planet. Led by Prophet Cha'Dawn, who is believed to be a physical manifestation of the "Voice of Planet". The Cult makes planetfall with the technologies "Social Psych" and "Centauri Ecology" as well as a Mind Worm boil. Because the Cult is devoted to promoting the growth of Chiron's Environment they cause less eco damage and have a greater ability to capture Mind Worms than any other faction, including Gaia's Stepdaughters, but it also causes the mineral cost of units and facilities to be increased by 10% as they are reluctant to pollute the environment. The Headquarters of the Cult no longer receives an extra unit of energy as their disinterest in material wealth makes them less focused on their economy. Once the Cult discovers the technology "Centauri Genetics" every base becomes equipped with a Brood Pit facility. Due to the fear and reverence for the native life possessed by Dawn and his followers, Mind Worms are twice as effective at police duty, quelling drone numbers by two. The Cult may not use Wealth as a choice in social engineering because of their disinterest in material goods. Their founding base is Dawn of Planet. Social benefits (+2 planet, -1 industry, -1 economy).

The Cult's Green tendencies tend to put them at odds with Morgan Industries, and frequently the Free Drones along with both alien factions.The journey of the Cult is seldom a smooth one.

Cybernetic Consciousness

A race of cyborgs (in fact, "Cyborgs" is a common nickname for this faction) led by Aki-Zeta 5 (Prime Function Shell), formerly Aki Luttinen of Norway. The Consciousness makes planetfall with the technologies "Information Networks" and "Applied Physics". The Consciousness' cybernetics allow it greater efficiency and increased research capacities, so it discovers new technologies 20% faster. The downside of the Consciousness is that, because the citizens are humans "possessed by algorithms", they find reproduction awkward, thus lowering their growth rate by 10%. Due to the computer integration, when the Consciousness seizes control of a base it is able to download the files containing one tech known to the former owners of the base before the base system goes offline from the rest of the enemy grid. The Consciousness may not use a Fundamentalist government in social engineering because its ideologies seem to be rejected by those of some religions. Also, if they use a Cybernetic future society they receive no negative side effects (Cybernetic society is the logical choice, thus it causes no discontent), also it views both Eudaimonic and Thought Control societies as irrational. Its founding base is Alpha Prime. Social benefits (+2 efficiency, +2 research, -1 growth).

The Consciousness is an unusual case in that its preference is usually a late-game advance, which means you can establish a flourishing trade relationship with it, but as soon as the opportunity to become Cybernetic presents itself and you do not take it, it will become increasingly wary--eventually breaking contact altogether.

Data Angels

Hackers and crackers, experts at espionage activity. Their leader is Datajack Sinder Roze of Trinidad. The Angels make planetfall with the technologies "Information Networks" and "Planetary Networks" as well as a Probe Team. Because the Angels are highly motivated computer specialists, their Probe Teams gain a morale upgrade and any enemy Probe Team action costs double, while the cost of their actions is reduced by 25%; however because they are decentralized and have anarchist tendencies, they have a social engineering penalty in police control, an immediate effect being the lack of the ability to nerve staple. If any three factions of which the Angels have an infiltrator discover a technology, then the Angels will automatically discover the technology as well, due to their wide-ranged covert activities. Once the Angels discover "Pre-Sentient Algorithms", a technology based on adaptive neural net heuristics, each base comes with a free Covert Ops Center. This raises the morale of Probe Teams and is supposed to make all colonies and units immune to mind control; however, due to a glitch in the game it lowers the cost of mind control against the Angels. A possible workaround for this is to change the Angels' faction file so that they receive 1 Probe instead of 2 Probe as their faction ability, or perhaps halve the penalty of choosing the intellectual social engineering choice known as Knowledge, and favor Democratic politics over other forms. The Angels may not use Power in social engineering as they prefer covert warfare over direct conflict. Their founding base is Data DeCentral. Social benefits (+2 probe, -1 police).

The Angels can usually be found in conflict with The Hive and The Believers (often allied with the Peacekeepers, although not always). One of the Angel bases is called the Googleplex.

Free Drones

An industrial, socialist civilization that promises to be heaven to all workers, led by Foreman Domai of Australia. The Drones make planetfall with the technology "Industrial Base". Because the Drones are composed of the lower class of other factions, they are skilled workers and can complete units, facilities and secret projects at 20% less mineral cost. Being of a lower class and more focused on productivity, though, their research suffers, making them discover new technologies 20% slower than the normal rate. Because of the opportunities for malcontents offered by the Free Drones, drones of other factions that overthrow their masters are more likely to join them than other factions. Also, Free Drone colonies have one fewer drone than usual. The Drones may not use Green economics in social engineering because they do not see the value in ecology-based economics, while their eventual goal is to create a Eudaimonic society. Their founding base is Free Drone Central. Social benefits (+2 industry, -2 research).

Their only natural adversary is the Consciousness, although the Drones frequently make industry-enhancing choices, thus putting them at odds with both the Gaians and the Cult, as well as Morgan Industries (presumably due to class conflict).The Drones often have a better relationship with the aliens than some of the other factions.

Nautilus Pirates

A seafaring civilization, led by Captain Ulrik Svensgaard, of Gloucester, MA, USA [http://www.firaxis.com/smac/pirates.cfm] . The Pirates make planetfall with the technologies "Doctrine: Mobility" and "Doctrine: Flexibility" as well as a unity gunship and a sea colony pod as opposed to the land-based units that other factions receive. (As a side effect to this, starting a new game with Nautilus Pirates as one of the factions on a custom map without water may cause Alien Crossfire to crash.) Because of the Pirates' sea life, they are more inefficient and spend less time focused on families, causing their colonies to grow 10% slower than normal. Because they are skilled shipwrights, each base comes equipped with a Naval Yard upon discovery of the technology "Doctrine: Initiative", and every ship is considered to have the marine Detachment special ability on discovery of the technology "Adaptive Doctrine". In addition, a unit defending a sea base with a Naval Yard has a 100% defense bonus. Due to their advanced oceanic technology, prototypes for the Sea Colony Pod and Sea Formers are free. Due to their culture being adapted to sea life, they receive one extra mineral in ocean shelf squares and upon discovery of "Advanced Ecological Engineering" they may build terrain enhancements in ocean and ocean trench squares. The Pirates may use all forms of social engineering, but are wary of others making the Knowledge or Wealth choices. Their founding base is Safe Haven. Social benefits (-1 growth, -1 efficiency).

The Pirates are almost identical in ideology to the Spartan Federation, and as such frequently at odds with the University.

Manifold Caretakers

A Progenitor (alien) race that seeks to protect the Sixth Manifold (Chiron) and to prevent the process of transcendence. They are led by Guardian Lular H'minee. The Caretakers make planetfall five years after the human factions with the technologies "Progenitor Psych", "Centauri Ecology", "Field Modulation", "Information Networks" and "Biogenetics" as well as an extra Colony Pod and a Battle Ogre Mk I. Because the Caretakers understand the inner workings of the Sixth Manifold, they are able to avoid causing as much ecological damage and they can capture Mind Worms. Due to their ability to sense and manipulate the resonance fields around them, they gain a 25% defensive bonus and all prototyped units have a two-square sighting range. The increased infrastructure of the Caretakers makes all bases considered to have a Recycling Tank as well as an Energy Grid which generates more energy based on the number of facilities at the base, but prevents the base from engaging in commerce to generate energy. They also possess a physical scan of Chiron from when their ships were in the skies above Chiron. Furthermore, because they are rediscovering lost technology, they have the ability to direct their research. As an alien faction, the Caretakers cannot take part in Planetary Council meetings, thus making Diplomatic victory an impossibility. The alien factions also permanently have VENDETTA status (essentially "war" status) against each other, to limit the effectiveness of their tremendous advantages against human factions. However, alien factions can perform a Progenitor Victory, in which the faction builds several transmitters in different bases to call the rest of its alien fleets to obliterate the opposing factions. Additionally, because the Manifold Caretakers are seeking to prevent the process of transcendence, they cannot perform a victory by transcendence (however, a bug in Alpha Centauri allows the Manifold Caretakers to achieve such a victory; more details below). The Caretakers may use any form of social engineering, although they seem to favour a Planned economic model. Social benefits (+1 planet).

Often seen at odds with the Gaians, Cult and Morgan Industries due to economic differences.

Manifold Usurpers

A Progenitor (alien) race that seeks to exploit the power of the Sixth Manifold by forcing the process of transcendence. Their leader is Conqueror Judaa Maar. The Usurpers make planetfall five years after the human factions with the technologies "Progenitor Psych", "Centauri Ecology", "Field Modulation", "Applied Physics" and "Biogenetics" as well as an extra Colony Pod and a Battle Ogre Mk I. Because of the Usurpers' warlike culture, their troops receive a morale upgrade. Also, because they exploit the Sixth Manifold for their purposes, their colonies grow 10% faster than normal, but they cause more eco-damage and produce fewer resources in fungus squares. Due to their ability to sense and manipulate the resonance fields around them, they gain a 25% offensive bonus and all prototyped units have a two-square sighting range. The increased infrastructure of the Usurpers makes all bases considered to have a Recycling Tank as well as an Energy Grid which generates more energy based on the number of facilities at the base, but prevents the base from engaging in commerce to generate energy. They also possess a physical scan of Chiron from when their ships were in the skies above Chiron. Because they are rediscovering lost technology, they have the ability to direct their research. As an alien faction, the Usurpers cannot take part in Planetary Council meetings, thus making Diplomatic victory an impossibility. Also, the alien factions permanently have VENDETTA status (essentially "war" status) against each other, to limit the effectiveness of their tremendous advantages against human factions. However, alien factions can perform a Progenitor Victory, in which the faction builds several transmitters in different bases to call the rest of its alien fleets to obliterate the opposing factions. The Usurpers may not use Democratic in social engineering, although this is not listed in the faction info, and favour a Planned economy. Social benefits (+1 growth, +1 morale, -1 planet).

Basically the same as the Caretakers, but with the added twist (for both alien factions) that an ally of the opposing faction is barred from making any kind of treaties with your faction.eg: The Hive has contacted both the Caretakers and Usurpers, but because they met the Caretakers first and signed a trade pact with them, the Usurpers cannot enter into any agreement with the Hive who will now be viewed with intense suspicion by the Usurpers.

Firaxians

The hidden eighth faction, the Firaxians, can be accessed by opening the Faction Editor, going to "Load Faction", and either typing in "sid" (to set Sid Meier as faction leader) or "brian" (to set Brian Reynolds as faction leader) as the faction to load. Once loaded and saved, the Firaxians can be added to a game. The Firaxians do not start the game with any positive or negative societal traits, but receive one free technology - "Singularity Mechanics", allowing them to build units with singularity engines from the start of the game. Singularity engines are a powerful advantage as they lower the cost of units, making them very cheap, and increase unit hitpoints considerably, making them tough to destroy. Because of this, the Firaxians faction is very suitable for beginners. It should be noted that other factions can steal the technology from the Firaxians by using Probe Teams.

Victory conditions

There are several victory methods available in "Alpha Centauri". "Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire" adds one extra victory condition which is only available to the Progenitor factions.

;Cooperative : A Cooperative victory is when a pact brother or pact sister wins the game. This option allows players to complete an 'allied' victory using most of the following methods.;Conquest : A conquest victory occurs when all factions are annihilated or have surrendered to one player. If cooperative victory is enabled then there may be up to three pact brothers and sisters who can share the victory (excluding those who have surrendered).;Economic : When a player has enough energy reserves (roughly equal to what it would take to mind-control all the remaining cities on planet), he or she can assert an economic takeover of Planet and win the game. This takes 20 turns to achieve, during which any faction capturing your Headquarters can prevent your victory. A player must also have discovered Planetary Economics in order to utilize this type of Victory.;Diplomatic : A player achieves diplomatic victory by uniting the Planetary Council behind him or her. To do this, three conditions must be met.
# The player must be playing a human faction.
# The Progenitor (alien) factions must be eliminated (they cannot have 'sworn a pact to serve you'; they must have been completely eliminated).
# The player must get a percentage of the votes, by population, at Planetary Council. The percentage varies based on difficulty level up to 75% at maximum (transcend).In order to initiate a diplomatic victory, one must have discovered Mind-Machine Interface.;Transcendence : The transcendence victory is achieved by building the Ascent to Transcendence secret project, which becomes available after the Voice of Planet secret project has been built (by any faction). This concept of a post human era is very closely related to the idea of the technological singularity. After this project is built people leave their material bodies to merge with the emerged planet intelligence. "Note: The manual states that the Manifold Caretakers cannot win by Transcendence due to the nature of their mission, which is specifically to prevent transcendence. This is incorrect. The Caretakers cannot build the Voice of Planet secret project, but because of a glitch in the game programming can build the Ascent to Transcendence secret project. This causes the Caretakers to declare vendetta upon themselves and if they do win by transcendence the scorecard claims it as "0 objectives achieved" (but the score is not affected), both of which prove this was clearly unintended, but they can therefore transcend if another faction first builds the Voice of Planet secret project.";Progenitor Victory : Only the Progenitor factions can win with this victory condition. The player must construct the Resonance Communicator. The Resonance Communicator is a combination of six Subspace Generators. In order for a Subspace Generator to be activated it must be at a base size ten or larger. The Resonance Communicator is used to call the Progenitors' home fleet, which is much more powerful than all the human and the other Progenitor factions combined, so the player wins the game. Even if Cooperative victory is enabled, only the faction that built the Resonance Communicator is considered to have won.

External links

* [http://www.firaxis.com/games/game_detail.php?gameid=7 Official site]
* [http://www.apolyton.net/smac/ Apolyton's Alpha Centauri site] - Has much information on strategy.
* [http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/alphacentauri/ GURPS Alpha Centauri] - The official site of the RPG supplement.