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[Actu] Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri gets an in-development open source remake

https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2023/09/sid-meiers-alpha-centauri-open-source-remake/

Nota Bene : you still need to buy the base game.

Seems like another classic is getting revived with the power of open source. Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri from 1999 has a remake in progress called GLSMAC. All unofficial, like most open source reimplementations and it's early days for the project but it's showing a lot of promise.

Seems like another classic is getting revived with the power of open source. Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri from 1999 has a remake in progress called GLSMAC. All unofficial, like most open source reimplementations and it's early days for the project but it's showing a lot of promise.

Their plan is to use the original data files, just like other open source remakes (OpenMW for Morrowind for example), while it's a full rework of the graphics engine, networking and pretty much everything else. So plenty will be a bit different like the random map generation, AI and so on while they try to keep it similar to the original logic they are creating the code from scratch.

According to their roadmap they're at stage v0.3+ so they still have quite some ways to go:

  • v0.1: fundamental engine functions, such as: rendering, UI, netcode, sound system
  • v0.2: basic map functions, such as: tiles, mapgen, creating/saving/loading games, map rendering
  • v0.3: basic multiplayer: ability to host and join games, lobby, save/load games with same players. multiplayer support will be maintained during further steps from now on
  • v0.4: game processing, such as: game turns, units (only scout patrols, formers and colony pods), buildings (only recycling tanks), technologies (only centauri ecology), building of bases (only land bases), terraforming (only farms, mines and solar arrays), unit combat, victory by conquest
  • v0.5: all remaining SMAC units, buildings, terraformings, technologies, etc
  • v0.6: all remaining victory types
  • v0.7: AI (computer opponents, cities automation, units automation, etc) and diplomacy
  • v0.8: alien lifeforms, ecology
  • v0.9: all remaining in-game UI, including game settings
  • v0.10: non-crucial things like movies, interludes, dynamic music
  • v0.11: final polishing and bugfixing

project's page

Project screenshoot

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