Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri™ Planetary Pack

The newer version sucks. This version keeps it simple and fun.

I still qoute special projects years later.

If you haven't played this, you're missing out.

never played a Civ game before and thought it was gonna be very intimidating but it is not bad to get into at all. Not really what i would usually play so i was pleasantly surprised! Recommend! No problems on Windows 11 for me btw.

When I first played Alpha Centauri I was amazed at the advances it had made over its predecessors. Almost everything I might conceive of doing was available - I could customize and upgrade units, the diplomatic options were astounding, I could customize my government, my governmental choises had meaningful impacts on diplomacy, and they had truly different ways to win. On top of that, the computerized opponents felt like they had real, distinct personalities - you knew exactly what you were in for if you started next to Miriam. What has really amazed me is the failure of future games to take advantage of the majority of these improvements, with the most obvious being unit customization and enhanced diplomacy. Every time I try a new Civ game (most recently Civ 7) I play it and realize how it is inferior to a game 25 years old. If anyone has never tried it, you absolutely should. There are some downsides - the graphics are outdated and game navigation could use some help. But those are nothing compared to the real joy that this game can provide.