The affinities of Civilization: Beyond Earth: Harmony

[Geo]

Embracing an Affinity in Sid Meier’s Civilization: Beyond Earth will define how humankind changes to survive on the new planet which they call home. Throughout this month we have been discussing what this new system is and how it comes to life in Beyond Earth. Co-Lead Designers Will Miller and David McDonough are joined by Art Lead Mike Bates in this Q&A about the Harmony Affinity.

1. What are the defining aspects of this Affinity?
The Harmony Affinity is themed around a faction’s integration with the alien planet. Players who decide to develop the Harmony line will transform their people through genetic manipulation to become one with the alien environment. Units and buildings take on more organic forms, so you end up with tons of cool unique units like tanks that look like living creatures.



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

Harmony has many benefits, but the biggest and most exciting one is having the planet on your side. Everything that was so scary at the start of the game (miasma, hostile aliens, and giant worms for example) can now be utilized to your advantage. You won’t forget your first siege worm. Neither will your enemies.



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

Mike Bates – When designing Harmony, we used curvilinear shapes to evoke an organic quality. Even though Harmony is the Affinity closest to being “alien,” we wanted to avoid vivid greens so no one’s first thought is about “little green men.” Harmony ended up with a more grayish green that is unique to Beyond Earth. We also use colors found in the natural resources of the planet to help distinguish this Affinity.



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

“I love the smell of miasma in the morning.”

[Dio]

The infantry units still make me think "Big Green Men".

[Geo]

My thought was "instant alien faction graphics" for a mod in Civ:BE.

[Green1]

Mlasma reminds me of that purple cloud stuff that hovered around refuse and dead bodies back when I was trying to figure out Dwarf Fortress. It is probably where they got that word since I have read forum posts somewhere that indicate Firaxis devs do dabble in DF.

Myself, I figured knowing how to play Dwarf Fortress is a skillset unnecessary to maintain geek cred for the pain that is one of the most obtuse interfaces ever designed. A game should not rquire you to watch 5 hours of Let' Play tutorials on YouTube just to figure out how to do basic things.

It is good to see they are expanding on alien life, though. If I was to design a Alpha Centauri 2, more and more varied native life would be on the to do list.

[Buster's Uncle]

...I truly believe them when they say they weren't trying to design an Alpha Centauri 2...

[Green1]

...I truly believe them when they say they weren't trying to design an Alpha Centauri 2...

If they design Alpha Centauri 2, they get sued by vulture lawyers sitting over at EA headquarters just waiting for some way to make money without having to create content. These big companies do stuff like that on  regular basis.

While I, like others here, remain skeptical, when the first beta Lets Plays roll out and there is nothing overly awful about it, I will purchase it a week after release.

[Buster's Uncle]

It's obvious from the news we have thus far that the development team is a junior one that prefers CivRev to more sophisticated iterations of the series - I in no way think that necessarily means BE will be inferior, but I do think it means the way to bet is that BE will be a less-complex/layered experience than what our detail-oriented membership tends to prefer.

Doesn't that sound like Pandora all over again?  We had four people in the Pandora beta, and you can see how much they've had to say in the Pandora folder since the NDAs presumably expired.  They've been able to access the folder for a lot longer than you have...

Short version - I anticipate BE not being what most of us are looking for, so let's not get our hopes up too much.

[Green1]

Pandora's problem is that it was developed by a fairly obscure company and has little fan base.

Firaxis, on the other hand comes out with something will have AAA numbers even if it is not "grand strategy" style complexity. Civ Rev was console, though. The console guys never were known for liking complex stuff. A console game needs to be light. It is designed to sit in front of a TV and unwind and not give much thought.  Even with CivRev pedigree, we should hope they remember what platform they are programming on. That will not fly on PC.

[Buster's Uncle]

Hey - I'm happy that BE is a thing.  AC2 has already done very well off BE being a thing; but our community is not going to get Civ5'ed in the deal, so let's wait and see...

[Dio]

Hey - I'm happy that BE is a thing.  AC2 has already done very well off BE being a thing; but our community is not going to get Civ5'ed in the deal, so let's wait and see...

In other words, he will not let a hit the base.

[Buster's Uncle]

^1,300th post!

Yeah, I got plans.  The members got excited at the BE announcement and started talking about SMACX and SMACX modding, and that's exactly how we need to ride this tidal wave that is BE - do what we do best, while making room for more diversity - see also Other Games, which is where Civ goes here.