Planetfall
Title & Expectations Around “Planetfall”
- Many readers clicked expecting content about the Infocom text adventure “Planetfall,” not a map of Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri (SMAC).
- Several comments ask why the title is “Planetfall” and what it has to do with the article; others explain it’s a recurring term in SMAC’s lore for the colony landing event.
- Some were confused that this wasn’t an online version of the Infocom game.
Nostalgia for Infocom & Old Adventure Games
- Strong nostalgia for Infocom titles (Zork, Planetfall, etc.), with concern over whether knowledge of these classics will fade.
- People note an active interactive fiction (IF) community and competitions still producing new games.
- Old adventures are widely described as “obscenely hard” or outright unfair by modern standards; many now play them only with walkthroughs, saves, or hint books.
- Discussion touches on bad puzzle design vs. fair challenge and how early excitement was partly just “interacting with a computer at all.”
Alpha Centauri: Impact, Strengths & Weaknesses
- SMAC is widely praised as a masterpiece: top-5 game for some, with standout sound design, voice work, and unit-design mechanics.
- Several recount memorable strategies and factions, and emphasize its philosophical, ideological, and political depth; for some it was formative in thinking about beliefs and political systems.
- Others recall SMAC being divisive at release: some Civ fans struggled with the alien setting, terminology, and tech tree while craving a direct Civ II sequel.
- There is disappointment with Civilization: Beyond Earth as a successor and mention that Alpha Centauri IP is controlled elsewhere, limiting remakes.
The Map Project & Cartography Discussion
- The article’s map and writeup are widely praised as a remarkable, loving piece of cartography that renewed appreciation for the craft.
- A few aesthetic critiques: the new map’s land textures are seen as too smooth and lacking the sharp, alien contrasts (e.g., red “xenofungus” lines) from the original game map.
- Another blog on procedural fantasy maps is recommended as a related deep dive.
Manual Data Collection vs Automation
- Several are astonished the author manually recorded elevations for all 8,192 tiles instead of scripting it; multiple people note the data can be parsed programmatically and reference an open-source SMAC engine remake that already decodes map tiles.
- Others defend the manual approach as a kind of meditative, repetitive project akin to grinding in games or mining in Minecraft—mindless but satisfying, though potentially a time sink.
Game Design, Maps & “Fun”
- A question about “mathematically optimizing” maps for enjoyable gameplay elicits an AI-generated explanation (relayed by a commenter) invoking resource distributions, graph theory, entropy, and flow theory.
- Another commenter counters that, in practice, such maps are likely tuned via iterative playtesting and simple heuristics like spacing starts, adding chokepoints, and ensuring fair resource access.
Meaning, Passion & Side Threads
- Some readers are moved by the author’s broader life story as recounted elsewhere on the site, relating to burnout, depression, and rediscovering passion through cartography.
- A substantial subthread celebrates people who pursue deep, niche interests purely for their own sake.
- This leads into a short philosophical tangent about nihilism vs. creating one’s own purpose: even if nothing has ultimate meaning, one can still choose curiosity, kindness, and “doing cool things” in the here and now.
Related Works & Recommendations
- Links are shared to:
- An interactive fiction competition.
- A philosophy-focused blog about Alpha Centauri.
- A procedural map-generation blog.
- A modern Master of Magic remake (with mixed opinions).
- The animated series “Scavengers Reign,” noted as thematically similar to SMAC’s “sentient planet” premise.