14 DAY TRIAL // Sid Meier, the veteran game developer who created the entire Civilization franchise, says that he had no favorite faction in the classic Alpha Centauri title and was willing to try and use the strategies and core concepts associated with each one in order to see how they could be used to achieve a victory condition.
At the same time, the developer, who is still directly involved in the creation of the core mechanics of the series, says that he does not want to see gamers approach factions simply as a set of formulas that allow them to create a perfect min/max strategy and then execute it.
Meier tells Gamespot that, “I always think one of the successes of Civilization is that it encourages you to try the science path this time, or try the military path, or maybe try the diplomatic path. It encourages you to wander into all the corners, the nooks and crannies, of the game and try all sorts of different things.”
The leader of Firaxis has described video games as a series of interesting choices for the player to make in order to see the consequences that they have on a world and he believes that players should always try to stay in character rather than simply think of strategy experiences as a set of math problems.
He adds, “If you start pulling the curtain back then we haven’t engaged you enough in the setting and the world that we’ve created. If we start thinking in math terms or programming terms or algorithmic terms then we’ve failed in a way and we need to fix that.”
Sid Meier has also pledged that he will fix and eliminate any strategy that always leads to a victory for the player because it misses the point of actually playing a title from the Civilization franchise.
Beyond Earth is designed to be a spiritual successor to Alpha Centauri, but the team at Firaxis says that it will not simply remake the classic experience using new tech, but will strive to introduce a new set of mechanics that would appeal to modern gamers.
The developers have promised a much larger array of customization options and the game will focus on the fight against the flora and fauna of the alien planet as much as on competition against other human factions.
Civilization: Beyond Earth will be launched exclusively on the PC before the end of the year.