In my previous blog post, I commented on the science fiction elements in Civilization VI, a computerized game in which players can win the game by developing spaceflight technology and reaching another planet: Mars. Along with learning how to play Civilization VI this summer, I have also been playing a more science fiction-oriented game, Beyond Earth (Rising Tide). I've never understood why so many computerized games like Civilization VI emphasize death and destruction. I play games such as Beyond Earth because I enjoy building beautiful things. The programmers of Civilization VI seemed to believe that endlessly battling and killing barbarians is fun. In my view, the barbarians are silly and a boring game element and the abilities of the barbarians make no sense in the context of the game. The role given to barbarians by the programmers of Civilization VI is like having a four-year-old present during game play who can randomly throw a tantrum and disrupt the game. As described below, Beyond Earth is more fun.
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My aquatic city that became part of the Olivia Ross quest.
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When playing
Beyond Earth, I routinely emphasize the
Harmony affinity. It is not difficult to play the entire game without ever injuring any of the alien lifeforms. It is still possible to anger the aliens if you insist on utilizing prized
resources that are located close to alien
nests. Using a strategy of peaceful coexistence with the aliens, the "
ultrasonic fence" game feature is less important than it would be if you constantly fought the aliens. I almost always play as
Polystralia which has benefits for
trade, but the roving
units that represent trade routes can be destroyed by angry aliens. This is usually not a problem if you quickly sacrifice some of the
city protection range of ultrasonic fences to provide your trade units with protection against alien attacks. This choice is part of an early game "
quest".
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Figure 1. The three stage Olivia Ross quest: Genius, Sightings and Recovery.
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Beyond Earth quests are one of the fun elements of the game along with all of the goodies that can be obtained by exploring and finding
resource pods and performing
expeditions. The game programmers for
Beyond Earth put much thought into finding ways to provide players with unexpected yet pleasant surprises. As an example of "goodies" that can come from quests, the "Olivia Ross" quest can provide you with the original greater ultrasonic fence protection range after you give it up for trade route protection.
Olivia Ross is a "lost" scientist who exited from one of your cities and has been living "in the wild" among the native aliens of the exoplanet that you are trying to colonize. There are three stages to the Olivia Ross quest (see Figure 1, above). Since I prioritize trade, I always trade with available Stations.
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Figure 2. Map tile with the Ross Weed cave.
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New Stations can appear at seeming random times during a game of Beyond Earth. Sometimes you can suddenly get a message informing you that a new Station exists and if you begin sending a trader unit to the new Station then the second part of the Olivia Ross quest becomes available. A new map feature will appear that indicates the location of a cave where you can perform an expedition (see the image to the left).
In Figure 2, you can see that the text for the Olivia Ross quest "explains" the sudden appearance of a new Station as being the direct result of having completed the first level of the quest and getting upgraded ultrasonic fences for your cities. In my game, Hekima Station appeared on the map near the North Pole, not too far from a water city that I had captured from Arshia Kishk. The cave appeared on a map tile that was actually within the territorial borders of that water city.
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One of the Olivia Ross quest dialog windows.
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My expedition to that underwater
cave discovered a previously unknown alien plant that becomes known as "Ross Weed" (see the image to the right). Part of the science fiction theme in
Beyond Earth is that some of your citizens seem susceptible to a kind of telepathic contact with the aliens. Players of the game can assume that Olivia Ross has gone off to explore the planet and is searching for ways to better communicate with the aliens and possibly the
Progenitors.
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The Ross Weed artifact: shady hallucinogen
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When I explored the underwater cave where Olivia Ross had been seen, I also got a Progenitor
artifact. I was able to combine that new artifact with two other artifacts that I had previously found and get a boost in the rate at which my
worker units could complete jobs. This came at a convenient time because I was just starting to construct
magrails to connect my cities. Some late game worker tasks (such as constructing a
terrascape) take an exceedingly long time to complete unless you have obtained bonuses that speed up your workers.
Vegetarianism. I like the idea that some neuroactive chemicals could modify brain activity and help humans achieve telepathic contact with aliens. I include a special role for
nicotine in my own
Exode Saga.
I don't think I've ever completed the the third stage of the Olivia Ross quest. In my current game, I just got the technology (vertical farming) that boosts food production by farms. It would be interesting to see how large a city population would become possible if vertical farming can be additive with the additional food conferred by completing the last step in the Olivia Ross quest.
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Stage 1 of the Olivia Ross quest in Aswat Adida
(I changed the name of this city after I captured it from Al Falah).
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It is not clear why Dr. Ross is described as a "genius". Of course, I don't know what a "
complex frequency" is, so I must bow to the game designers and accept their description of the brilliant Miss Olivia. Although I must say, I've never allowed myself to be caught in a stampede. I like to think that Dr. Ross might look something like this:
Related Reading: Beverwijck en Nicotiana
Next: a Jack Vance story from 1952
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I reached the end of my recent game, defeating the "esteemed Élodie" of the Franco-Iberians, before ever seeing the third stage of the Olivia Ross quest. 🙁 Their capitol: Le Coeur, surrounded by captured alien forces.
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