When comparing Aurora 4X vs Alpha Centauri, the Slant community recommends Aurora 4X for most people. In the question“What are the best PC 4X games?” Aurora 4X is ranked 10th while Alpha Centauri is ranked 13th. The most important reason people chose Aurora 4X is:
Most things in Aurora are very detailed, especially the ship design. Parts are individually designed and researched, and come with trade-offs and benefits.
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Pros
Pro Detailed ship design
Most things in Aurora are very detailed, especially the ship design. Parts are individually designed and researched, and come with trade-offs and benefits.
Pro Gameplay really differs from faction to faction
Pro Great hard sci-fi storyline and setting
Pro Memorable faction leaders and philosophies
Pro Simultaneous multiplayer
When playing against an opponent in the game the players can make moves simultaneously, which means there is no waiting around for each player to take their move, which saves time as well as makes the game more immediate.
Pro Great multiplayer balance (with exceptions)
Most factions can be successfully played in multiplayer and are great on certain maps with certain strategies e.g. Builder (population or money or tech), fast attacker, hybrid, Each is unique and has it's own advantages. Only few are truly useless.
Pro Custom (modular) units
You create units yourself out of parts
Pro Deformable landscape and weather patterns
Cons
Con Not as accessible as more popular titles of the genre
The game is mainly text based, which may not be appealing to many. On top of this, the game is incredibly detailed to the point that you could spend hours just tweaking one small aspect of the game, such as design specs of a laser. With little hand holding or explanations on how to play, it will take a lot of forum reading to figure out much of the game, as well as tons of trial and error.
Con Looks dated
The game was originally released in 1999 and it shows, the graphics are subpar compared to newer games, though the gameplay still holds up.