Editing Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (section)

===Characters and factions===
The game focuses on the leaders of seven factions, chosen by the player from the 14 possible leaders in ''Alpha Centauri'' and ''Alien Crossfire'', and Planet (voiced by Alena Kanka).<ref name=SMACManual1999p246>[[#SMACManual|Reynolds (1999)]], p.246.</ref> The characters are developed from the faction leaders' portraits, the spoken monologues accompanying scientific discoveries and the "photographs in the corner of a commlink – home towns, first steps, first loves, family, graduation, spacewalk."<ref name=Edge2006p1>[[#Edge2006|Edge Staff (2006)]], p.1.</ref> The leaders in ''Alpha Centauri'' comprise: Lady Deirdre Skye, a Scottish activist (voiced by Carolyn Dahl), of ''Gaia's Stepdaughters''; Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang, a [[Chinese Legalist]] official (voiced by Lu Yu), of the ''Human Hive''; Academician Prokhor Zakharov, a Russian academic (voiced by Yuri Nesteroff) of the ''University of Planet''; CEO Nwabudike Morgan, a Namibian businessman (voiced by Regi Davis), of ''Morgan Industries''; Colonel Corazon Santiago, an American militiawoman (voiced by Wanda Niño) of the ''Spartan Federation''; Sister Miriam Godwinson, an American minister and social psychologist (voiced by Gretchen Weigel), of the ''Lord's Believers''; and Commissioner Pravin Lal, an Indian surgeon and diplomat (voiced by Hesh Gordon), of the ''Peacekeeping Forces''.<ref name=SMACManual1999p246/><ref name=SMACManual1999pp11-13>[[#SMACManual|Reynolds (1999)]], pp.11–13.</ref>

The player controls one of the leaders and competes against the others to colonize and conquer Planet.<ref name=Rosen1999/> The Datalinks (voiced by Robert Levy and Katherine Ferguson) are minor characters who provide information to the player.<ref name=SMACManual1999p246/><ref name=SMACManual1999p111>[[#SMACManual|Reynolds (1999)]], p.111.</ref> Each faction excels at one or two important aspects of the game and follows a distinct philosophical belief, such as [[technological utopianism]], Conclave Christianity, "free-market" [[capitalism]], militarist [[survivalism]], [[Chinese Legalism]], U.N. Charter humanitarianism, or Environmentalist [[Gaia philosophy]].<ref name=Shah2000p2/><ref name=DD898p2>[[#DD|Train (August 11, 1998)]], p2.</ref> The game takes place on Planet, with its "rolling red ochre plains" and "bands of lonely terraformed green".<ref name=Edge2006p2>[[#Edge2006|Edge Staff (2006)]], p.2.</ref>

The seven additional faction leaders in ''Alien Crossfire'' are Prime Function Aki Zeta-Five, a Norwegian research assistant-turned-cyborg (voiced by Allie Rivenbark), of ''The Cybernetic Consciousness''; Captain Ulrik Svensgaard, an American fisherman and naval officer (voiced by James Liebman), of ''The Nautilus Pirates''; Foreman Domai, an Australian labor leader (voiced by Frederick Serafin), of ''The Free Drones''; Datajack Sinder Roze, a Trinidadian hacker (voiced by Christine Melton), of ''The Data Angels''; Prophet Cha Dawn, a human born on Planet (voiced by Stacy Spenser) of ''The Cult of Planet''; Guardian Lular H'minee, a Progenitor leader (voiced by Jeff Gordon), of ''The Manifold Caretakers''; and Conqueror Judaa Maar, a Progenitor leader (voiced by Jeff Gordon), of ''The Manifold Usurpers''.<ref name=Shah2000p2/><ref name=SMAXManual1999pp11-13>[[#SMAXManual1999|Train (1999)]], pp.11–13.</ref><ref name=SMAXManual1999p49>[[#SMAXManual1999|Train (1999)]], p49.</ref>