Editing Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (section)

===''Alien Crossfire''===
A month after ''Alpha Centauri''{{'}}s February 1999 release, the Firaxis team began work on the expansion pack, ''Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire''.<ref name="B"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://pc.ign.com/objects/009/009941.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020218155702/http://pc.ign.com/objects/009/009941.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 18, 2002 |title=IGN: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri |website=IGN |access-date=2010-08-07}}</ref><ref name=SMAXManual1999p45>[[#SMAXManual1999|Train (August 25, 1999)]], p.45.</ref> ''Alien Crossfire'' features seven new factions (two that are non-human), new technologies, new facilities, new secret projects, new alien life forms, new unit special abilities, new victory conditions (including the new "Progenitor Victory")<!-- is this victory more important than the other new victories? --><!--the Progenitor Victory was totally new; other victory conditions were modified to take the aliens into account--> and several additional concepts and strategies.<ref name = "B"/> The development team included Train as producer and designer, Chris Pine as programmer, Jerome Atherholt and Greg Foertsch as artists, and Doug Kaufman as co-designer and game balancer.<ref name=Harrison2000/><ref name=SMAXManual1999p46/>

The team considered several ideas, including a return to a post-apocalyptic earth and the conquest of another planet in the Alpha Centauri system, before deciding to keep the new title on Planet. The premise allowed them to mix and match old and new characters and delve into the mysteries of the monoliths and alien artifacts.<ref name=SMAXManual1999p45/> The backstory evolved quickly, and the main conflict centered on the return of the original alien inhabitants.<ref name=SMAXManual1999p46>[[#SMAXManual1999|Train (August 25, 1999)]], p.46.</ref> The idea of humans inadvertently caught up in an off-world civil war focused the story.<ref name=SMAXManual1999p46/>

Train wanted to improve the "build" aspects, feeling that the god-game genre had always been heavily slanted towards the "Conquer" end of the spectrum.<ref name=SMAXManual1999p46/> He wanted to provide "builders" with the tools to construct an empire in the face of heated competition.<ref name=SMAXManual1999p46/> The internet community provided "invaluable" feedback.<ref name=SMAXManual1999p46/> The first "call for features" was posted around April 1999 and produced the Fletchette Defense System, Algorithmic Enhancement, and The Nethack Terminus.<ref name=SMAXManual1999p46/>

The team had several goals: factions should not be "locked-in" to certain strategies; players should have interesting things to do without unbalancing the game, and the factions must be fun to play.<ref name=SMAXManual1999p47-8>[[#SMAXManual1999|Train (August 25, 1999)]], pp.47–8.</ref> The team believed the "coolness" of the Progenitor aliens would determine the success or failure of ''Alien Crossfire''.<ref name=SMAXManual1999p47>[[#SMAXManual1999|Train (August 25, 1999)]], p.47.</ref> They strove to make them feel significantly different to play, but still compatible with the existing game mechanics.<ref name=SMAXManual1999p47/> The developers eventually provided the aliens with Battle Ogres, a Planetary survey, non-blind research, and other powers to produce "a nasty and potent race that would take the combined might of humanity to bring them down".<ref name=SMAXManual1999p47/> Chris Pine modified<!-- is "added" the proper term here? --> the AI to account for the additions.<ref name=Harrison2000/> The team also used artwork, sound effects, music, and diplomatic text to set the aliens apart.<ref name=SMAXManual1999p47/> Other than the aliens, the Pirates proved to be the toughest faction to balance because their ocean start gave them huge advantages.<ref name=SMAXManual1999p48>[[#SMAXManual1999|Train (August 25, 1999)]], p.48.</ref>

Upon completion, the team felt that ''Alien Crossfire'' was somewhere between an expansion and a full-blown sequel.<ref name=SMAXManual1999p48/> In the months leading to the release of ''Alien Crossfire'', multimedia producer [[Michael Ely]] wrote the 9&nbsp;episodes of ''Centauri: Arrival'', introducing the ''Alien Crossfire'' factions.<ref name="OfficialSiteStory"/> The game initially had a single production run. [[Electronic Arts]] bundled ''Alpha Centauri'' and ''Alien Crossfire'' in the ''Alpha Centauri Planetary Pack'' in 2000 and included both games in ''The Laptop Collection'' in 2003.<ref name = "C">{{cite web|title=Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri Planetary Pack|url=http://www.mobygames.com/game/sid-meiers-alpha-centauri-planetary-pack|work=Moby Games|access-date=2009-06-26|archive-date=2009-06-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090604180449/http://www.mobygames.com/game/sid-meiers-alpha-centauri-planetary-pack|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Laptop Collection|url=http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/laptop-collection|work=Moby Games|access-date=2010-07-08|archive-date=2009-02-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212180415/http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/laptop-collection|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2000, both ''Alpha Centauri'' and ''Alien Crossfire'' were ported to [[Classic Mac OS]] by [[Aspyr Media]] and to [[Linux]] by [[Loki Software]].<ref name=Shah2000p1/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.insidemacgames.com/reviews/view.php?ID=43 |title=Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri |publisher=Insidemacgames.com |date=June 9, 2000 |access-date=2010-08-07 |archive-date=2010-12-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101202161625/http://insidemacgames.com/reviews/view.php?ID=43 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Shah |first=Rawn |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/08/24/linux.civ.review.idg/index.html |title=Review: Alpha Centauri for Linux |publisher=Archives.cnn.com |date=August 24, 2000 |access-date=2010-08-07 |archive-date=2007-01-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070127173145/http://archives.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/08/24/linux.civ.review.idg/index.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Mielewczik |first=Michael |title=Spielspass pur. Kommerzielle Linux-Spiele. |journal=PC Magazin LINUX |volume=2/2007 |pages=80–83}}</ref><!-- The game can fail to run on some default configurations of modern Linux distributions created after 2004, although there are workarounds available that address this issue.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lordhedgehog.hedgie.com/smac/ |title=Running Alpha Centauri in Linux |publisher=Lordhedgehog.hedgie.com |access-date=2010-06-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Alan Swanson |url=http://www.swanson.ukfsn.org/loki/ |title=Libraries for running old Loki games |publisher=Swanson.ukfsn.org |date=October 3, 2009 |access-date=2010-06-04}}</ref> [[Loki installers for linux gamers]] supplies an installer that allows the game to run on modern systems.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.liflg.org/?catid=7&gameid=90 |title=Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri Beta Linux Installer from |publisher=LIFLG |access-date=2010-06-04}}</ref>--><!-- This last part about Linux problems comes across as a how-to-guide Is it necessary and are the source reliable? --><!--This is a vestige from the article prior to this summer. The sources are not reliable (three fansites, although one of them is the subject of a WP article). On reflection, I don't think issues with newer Linux systems really belong in Development history, or for that matter, in the article at all.-->