While hotly anticipated, Firaxis’ Civilization: Beyond Earth didn’t quite live up to the hype upon release, leaving players desperate for some sort of sci-fi 4X goodness. The developer looks like it wants to address that need with its recently announced title, Sid Meier’s Starhships. In this clip, a panel featuring Meier at PAX South explains the motivations behind Starships, as well as providing a hefty chunk of gameplay.
If you just want to see the game in action (with commentary from Meier), you can jump to the 32:50 mark of the clip and enjoy a good 15-20 minutes of footage.
On the other hand, it’s an interesting listen if you start at the beginning, with Meier explaining that Starships is set in the same universe as Beyond Earth, with the exploration (and domination) of other planets a natural extension of the concept:
When I was 12 years old, the original Star Trek series came out on television. I remember every Friday night, rushing home to watch Star Trek … I think as a young teenager that left an impression on me, but since then, I really haven’t had a chance to write a science-fiction game … [Compared to Beyond Earth] it really seemed like there was an opportunity for me to take this fascination with science fiction that I had developed as a kid and tell the next chapter in [Beyond Earth‘s] story.
Meier goes on to explain that Firaxis wants players to feel comfortable in the games it makes, so having a “familiar” setting works in its favour.
Sid Meier’s Starships – Firaxis Games Megapanel @ PAX South 2015 [YouTube]
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