Alpha Centauri 2

Other Games => Civilization Beyond Earth General Discussions => Topic started by: Geo on May 24, 2014, 10:37:23 AM

Title: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: Geo on May 24, 2014, 10:37:23 AM

Sid Meier’s Civilization: Beyond Earth takes place on an alien world and asks you to chart the course for the future of mankind. The guiding philosophy towards the evolution of humanity is shown though the new Affinity System. Each of the three Affinities, Purity, Harmony, and Supremacy, will have unique story and gameplay attributes. This Q&A led by Co-Lead Designers Will Miller and David McDonough and Art Lead Mike Bates sheds light on the Supremacy Affinity.

1. What are the defining aspects of this Affinity?

Supremacy represents the most dramatic change for humanity. This Affinity sees technology as the thing that saved humanity after The Great Mistake. Technology is what took man from Earth to the new planet, so they decide to double down in cybernetics. As the supremacy player sheds his or her humanity, they adopt a more austere robotic appearance. By the end of the game, vehicles and military units are sleek, efficient, and often unrecognizable from their human origin.

(https://downloads.2kgames.com/civdotcom/img/blog/Affinities_Naval_Fighter_Supremacy_Unit_Progression_In_Blog_edited-2_GA_FLAT.jpg)

2. What geological, technological, or other benefits does this Affinity have over others?

Supremacy has an interesting tactical design. Unique Supremacy units, for the most part, work better in tightly formed groups than they do alone. This is because of the various adjacency buffs the units get from being near each other. This makes positioning your units more important, so you can maximize their battle potential. On the other hand, you can give up these perks for a “lone wolf” upgrade that buffs your unit when they are not next to anyone. You can live out your sci-fi alien-squashing fantasies by taking a lone wolf marine into the middle of an alien nest and open fire.

(https://downloads.2kgames.com/civdotcom/img/blog/Affinities_Soldier_Supremacy_Unit_Progression_In_Blog_GA_FLAT.jpg)

3. When designing the look for this Affinity, what served as inspiration?

Mike Bates - With Supremacy’s emphasis on advanced technology, we wanted to duplicate the sleek design you would expect to see on a cool piece of hardware. All the tech in Supremacy has been optimized and slimmed down. There’s no bulk or extraneous features. Think about cell phones 20 years ago, and then look at them now. You can compare the approach to Purity’s bulky look. Purity has less sophisticated technology and must use brute force to make up for it. Supremacy has the more elegant streamlined solution and can perform advanced battle tactics.

(https://downloads.2kgames.com/civdotcom/img/blog/Affinities_Cavalry_Supremacy_Unit_Progression_In_Blog_edited-2_GA_FLAT.jpg)

4. What would a person aligned with this Affinity say to someone aligned with the others?

“Resistance is futile.”

Be sure to check out our post about the design of the Affinity system, or compare these traits with those of the Purity Affinity. Come back next week when we will take a look at the third and final Affinity, Harmony.


http://www.civilization.com/us/news/the-affinities-of-civilization-beyond-earth-supremacy/ (http://www.civilization.com/us/news/the-affinities-of-civilization-beyond-earth-supremacy/)

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I must say, the fourth 'cavalry' unit looks more like an air unit then anything else.

Title: Re: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 24, 2014, 05:32:30 PM

;b; ;b; ;b; ;b; ;b;

Title: Re: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: BlaneckW on May 24, 2014, 05:40:03 PM

(http://s18.postimg.org/61yvcubvt/Zealot_SC1_Cncpt1.jpg)

Title: Re: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 24, 2014, 05:52:49 PM

What am I looking at?

Title: Re: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: BlaneckW on May 24, 2014, 06:01:30 PM

Quote from: BUncle on May 24, 2014, 05:52:49 PM

What am I looking at?

Maybe you ought to be asking that about the game without a backstory for it's concept art.

Title: Re: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 24, 2014, 06:09:47 PM

Maybe so.

What am I looking at?  Is that BE art, or what?

Title: Re: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: BlaneckW on May 24, 2014, 06:12:36 PM

It's commonly referred to as concept art.

Title: Re: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 24, 2014, 06:14:07 PM

BE concept art?  Work with me, here.

Title: Re: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: Geo on May 24, 2014, 06:17:20 PM

If the "Metzen 96" marker is anything to go by, its definitely no Civ:BE concept art.

Title: Re: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: Lorizael on May 25, 2014, 03:51:50 AM

Google says it's StarCraft concept art. As far as CivBE not having any backstory...

Quote

Additionally, each discovered technology comes complete with a special quote voiced by one of the game’s leaders and drawn from each leader’s personal book of philosophy...

From a GameCrate preview. Obviously we don't know how much story we're going to get, but this is exactly how SMAC doled out story.

Title: Re: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 25, 2014, 04:17:20 AM

Lori is who I was stealing a lot of BE links from early on - Lori, link your BE folder in your sig. ;nod  It's cool.

Title: Re: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: BlaneckW on May 25, 2014, 07:05:09 AM

If they have backstory have them feed that to me instead of this bull[excrement].  I'm not buying it so that Firaxis can make money, I expect art, through and through - and art is primarily backstory.  Artistic vision from a company I care about - and I do not mean ships which I myself could draw - is the only reason I agreed to buy AOW3 before it goes on sale.  And Alpha Centauri is not the simple wargame of the AOW series.  Just because they are catering to idiots doesn't mean they have to skimp - it would be pennies for them to do this right.

Title: Re: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: Nikolai on May 27, 2014, 12:04:14 AM

They've said in interviews they have an extensive back story made out, but they have not (IIUC) decided how much of it will be made public and how much should be left to the player's imagination.

Title: Re: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: BlaneckW on May 27, 2014, 01:21:31 AM

I already have an imagination.  Art does not consist simply of imagination, art has an aim.  Everything in art as such is calculated and has a purpose, contributes to and takes part in that overall vision; the fluff called imagination develops around it.  Otherwise you have a child's work.  Art/literature defines a civilization, and it defines a company, too.  The graphics of the frost and fire giants were certainly not the first things released by Triumph Studios, they were a mid-way release after much talk on the gameplay, part of a larger story, that being the Age of Wonders series and it's revivification which is still going on now.  The first AOW had an enormous story. 

Am I supposed to care about generic ship design?  Give it a name and a place in the story.  Alpha Centauri's ship was the Unity, and it was not just any ship, it was worked on and contributed to by many a country around the world.  Besides that you can always let the player make their own [dang] ship - unless you are selling to a crowd that will literally buy for a display of graphics.  What I am being given is of an extremely low intellectual level.  Do they even have developer's logs?  Why should I pay any attention to them at all?  Even MOO3, building on the legacy of Master of Orion 2 (whose shoes they did not fill), had developer's logs - but not this company.  This company recycles philosophical gimmicks from AC - and has more to say about graphics than gameplay.  They don't seem to even want attention beyond the fact that it is merely expected from the mass that plays Civ 5 or buys into "spiritual successor" hype.

The release of a graphic may excite certain creatures but to feed it to me is simply an insult.  [butt]hats are being left to review beta play where there should be developer diaries.  I can get my sci-fi graphics somewhere else!  I will take lore or detailed descriptions of gameplay, but I will not fawn over screenshots!

Title: Re: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: Green1 on May 27, 2014, 04:42:53 AM

Agreed, Blaneck.

While I do admit that artwork is a lot of work and is important, the common nerd wants gameplay. In fact, that is all they care about. "Will I have fun with this game" is the question and graphics are not a guarantee of fun. This game is probably going to cost 50 USD. Some folks may even have an additional cost to upgrade a computer to handle it. To some that may not be an issue, to others who may have limited income it is very much an issue. Is the 50 USD going to give them fun?

Graphics are like air. They only matter when it is not there or is non functional.

Title: Re: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: BlaneckW on May 27, 2014, 07:05:11 PM

I personally am above such things as fun.

Title: Re: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: DrazharLn on May 27, 2014, 07:26:16 PM

Quote

All the tech in Supremacy has been optimized and slimmed down. There’s no bulk or extraneous features.

Before a bunch of pictures of garish units. They're not pared down, they've got extra fins and glowing cockpit replacements and stuff. The original "cavalry" (WTF) unit is much more utilitarian than the final one.

Not impressed.

Title: Re: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: Trenacker on May 27, 2014, 10:29:04 PM

It seems like the affinities are extremely shallow.

Has anybody seen more than the four basic unit sprites for each faction? Are they going to use those as the base and rely on unseen promotions to differentiate my guys from other factions' guys?

Title: Re: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 27, 2014, 10:33:03 PM

For that matter, will the AI always go for the same affinities according to faction personality, or always try to be different from you and others?  What would be the more interesting way to design that?

Title: Re: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: Lorizael on May 28, 2014, 12:15:02 AM

They've said the AI's choice of affinity is dependent on a couple factors, most of which are based on environmental circumstances. Choosing different affinities for the sake of spicing things up was mentioned as one of the deciding factors.

Title: Re: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: Geo on May 28, 2014, 04:47:02 PM

Quote from: Trenacker on May 27, 2014, 10:29:04 PM

Are they going to use those as the base and rely on unseen promotions to differentiate my guys from other factions' guys?

It's likely, but sofar I've seen pointed out an extra cavalry-alike Supremacy unit (perhaps artillery), and a sort of 2-man team with heavy gun for both Supremacy and Purity.

Title: Re: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 28, 2014, 04:50:59 PM

I wonder if any of this is going to be feasible to retro-mod onto the SMACX engine?  We'll totally need to look at doing that when it comes out...

Title: Re: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: Geo on May 28, 2014, 05:00:04 PM

Quote from: BUncle on May 28, 2014, 04:50:59 PM

I wonder if any of this is going to be feasible to retro-mod onto the SMACX engine?  We'll totally need to look at doing that when it comes out...

Well, you could start with renaming Eudaimonia, Cybernetic, and Thought Control to Harmony, Supremacy, and Purity. ;cute

Title: Re: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 28, 2014, 05:04:35 PM

Yyep - and much of the graphics could be adapted...  It's a good engine.

Title: Re: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: Geo on May 28, 2014, 05:23:22 PM

Wait a sec. Are you talking about introducing or emulating Civ:BE graphics in SMAC(X), or the other way around? ;lol

Title: Re: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 28, 2014, 05:28:28 PM

I'd involve myself in SMACX on the ciV engine, Planetfall-style, if that was the goal.

We oughtta be thinking about that, too - why wait for the only vaguely SMACXish version in the works to come out?  But not my point.

Title: Re: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: Geo on May 28, 2014, 05:31:42 PM

AFAIK, your computer can't run CiV and you don't even own it?

Title: Re: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 28, 2014, 05:35:17 PM

Yeah, but someone with a background in these things was talking about doing that on the Five engine the other day - not having it would hold me back, but obviously I wouldn't mind contributing...

Title: Re: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: DrazharLn on May 28, 2014, 05:51:19 PM

I think BUncle was suggesting CiV:BE -> SMACX.

Civ V isn't great for mods (no multiplayer support at all), but they claim BE is better.

Title: Re: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: Nikolai on May 28, 2014, 06:58:23 PM

Quote

The original "cavalry" (WTF) unit is much more utilitarian than the final one.

What is so WTF about a cavalery unit? You do know modern cavalery doesn't use horses, right? ;)

Title: Re: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: DrazharLn on May 29, 2014, 09:37:50 AM

In the UK, at least, we don't seem to refer to our armoured or mechanised regiments as cavalry, though many of our armoured, forward reconnaissance and mechanised regiments share names with the older horse cavalry regiments.

Title: Re: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: Geo on May 29, 2014, 09:52:05 AM

Would "Armored Cavalry" sound better to you then? A bit similar to calling today's infantry units "Mechanised Infantry".

Title: Re: The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Supremacy
Post by: DrazharLn on May 31, 2014, 07:06:28 PM

Eh, still doesn't sound right to me. But perhaps not as big an issue as I thought for others.