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
v0.3: 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
This is exciting! I played this for the first time in years while visiting a friend of mine earlier this year. It still holds up! We tried getting online multiplayer going when I got home but had no luck getting it going. I'll have to keep an eye on this project.