Alpha Centauri Add-on Announced

The word has been out for the last few weeks, and now Firaxis Games has made it official: A new expansion pack for Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri is in development and due for a late 1999 release.

Called Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire (unfortunately it has the same initials as the original game, SMAC), the expansion pack continues the plot started in Alpha Centauri, with the return of the original warring inhabitants (in seven factions) of the planet after its colonization by the human factions (also seven). The humans are forced to take sides in the alien struggle, which can help or hinder them in their own struggles against the other human factions.

The expansion pack will let gamers play as the alien factions and will give them all the new technological goodies and units like Geosynchronous Survey Pods, the Brood Pit, and cyborgs - not to mention a new faction editor.

"The seven new factions essentially double the scope of Alpha Centauri, providing a new game experience in the proven Alpha Centauri tradition," said Brian Reynolds, lead designer and programmer of Alpha Centauri and vice president of software development for Firaxis. "While it maintains the epic feel of Alpha Centauri, the gameplay in Alien Crossfire expands upon the mystery and intrigue of the alien races setting the stage for the intense struggle over the fate of the human race. Alien Crossfire adds to the Alpha Centauri universe by significantly extending the fiction, providing new and unexpected twists and a fresh gameplay experience."

Electronic Arts will publish Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire for about US$30.