title: Patrick Hernandez

text: Hernandez's follow-ups to "Born to Be Alive" did not fare as well in the US. "Disco Queen" backed with "Show Me the Way You Kiss" sold poorly, but the album "Born to Be Alive" sold well and won him a "Billboard" Award in February 1980. As a result of this lack of subsequent success he has earned the title of "one-hit wonder".


title: Patrick Hernandez

text: In 1981, Hernandez released the import 12" single of "Goodbye", first released on Aariana Records and then a remixed version on the parent-label Aquarius Records (in France). It was not released in the US, although an album followed the single's release, but found no market in the US.


title: Sohyang

text: Kim So-hyang (, , born April 5, 1978), known mononymously as Sohyang, is a South Korean singer-songwriter who has been dubbed by the international media as the "Korean Mariah Carey". According to Sohyang, her goal is to use her voice to comfort people who are going through difficult times. Sohyang is also an author of fiction, who has published multiple fantasy novels since 2013, the most well-known of them being "Crystal Castle" and "Anaxion".


title: Sohyang

text: Sohyang made her debut in 1996 with the song "Mr."(선생님). She was practicing in a recording studio and composer Jo Hwan-gon heard her singing and asked her to record a song with him. After being tested by him, Sohyang released her first single and then went on a tour with Jo Hwan-gon and participated in many concerts and musical performances. She joined her husband's family band "POS" and released several CCM albums. Sohyang became one of the most popular and influencing CCM singers of Korea. She held concerts in around 50 countries until now. In 2014, she became the first non-US-American artist to sing the American national anthem at an NBA game. She achieved further fame when she sang with Kirk Franklin.


title: Sohyang

text: Since 2012, Sohyang has participated multiple times on various television music competition programs "", "King of Mask Singer", and "I Am a Singer 2", winning twice on "Immortal Songs 2" with songs "Lean on Me" and "Bridge over Troubled Water", and setting up a new record on "King of Mask Singer".


title: Sohyang

text: After winning the Michael Bolton special episode on "Immortal Songs 2" with a score of 442 points (fifth-highest ever), Michael Bolton—who described Sohyang as a "virtuoso"—asked Sohyang to tour South Korea with him, and they performed many concerts together throughout the country. Furthermore, her performance of "Lean on Me" won an award at the 2015 Banff World Media Festival.


title: Sohyang

text: In 2016 Sohyang was awarded the Grand Prize of the "Seoul Success Award" in the "Culture" category. In Disney's movie "Moana", Sohyang provided the singing voice of the protagonist in the Korean-dubbed version. Sohyang also gives lectures about singing and vocal technique at Baekseok University in Cheonan City.


title: Sohyang

text: In the first half of 2017, Sohyang appeared on MBC's "King of Mask Singer" as "Spirited Lady" for the show's 2nd anniversary and became the winner six consecutive times (Generation 53-58), making her the female singer with the highest number of consecutive wins ever achieved to that time (second highest overall) before losing her crown in July 2017 and departing from the show after appearing for 14 consecutive weeks. Sohyang sang the main OST, "Wind Song" (바람의 노래), which is a remake of Cho Yong-pil's original song, for the Drama "Confession Couple (고백부부)". This OST was at No. 1 on the charts on Melon (online music service) for several weeks and additionally won the 1st place on Music Bank on November 24 in 2017. She was given a special stage on which to perform the main OST "Wind Song" at the KBS Drama Awards on the last day of 2017. Sohyang performed at the MBC Entertainment Awards 2017 and was awarded the Special Prize in the "Music Show" category for her participation in "King of Mask Singer". She became the King of the show with the highest number of consecutive wins ever achieved as a female contestant at that time.


title: Sohyang

text: During the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, ice dancer Yura Min and Alexander Gamelin performed to Sohyang's rendition of "Arirang Alone". Furthermore, during the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang Sohyang performed, together with Sumi Jo, the song "Here as One", which they both recorded specifically for this occasion.


title: Sohyang

text: Sohyang is a devout Christian. She first began singing in her local community, with no aspirations of pursuing a career as a professional singer. Sohyang's parents divorced when she was in her third year of high school. Due to this, Sohyang experienced great financial difficulties, and, according to her, was often very sad as a result. She has said that she used to listen to artists Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, and Celine Dion often, whose music helped her to get through these difficult times. In 2017 she was quoted as having said that her favorite album is still Mariah Carey's "Music Box".


title: Sohyang

text: In 1998, at the age of twenty, Sohyang married Kim Hee-jun, the drummer of her band POS. Soon afterwards she was diagnosed with uterine cancer; due to the early detection, she was able to survive the cancer, but was rendered infertile. Her sister-in-law is the guitarist JinJoo Lee from DNCE.


title: Sohyang

text: Sohyang's vocal type is a Full Lyric Soprano. Her showcased vocal range spans from D3 to A6 a total of three octaves, three notes and a semitone. According to Sohyang, the highest note she can sing is an E7. This means that she has an overall range of approximately four octaves and one semitone. However, this range hasn't been showcased to its fullest extent yet, as the highest note she has publicly showcased is A6. Her belting range/mixed voice extends up to a Soprano C (C6). She is known for her emotive and powerful vocals and meticulous control. Her vocals have been praised by various vocal coaches and singers like Seth Riggs and Michael Bolton.


title: Sohyang

text: Sohyang achieved the highest average rank of every contestant on I Am a Singer 2 ever. Furthermore, she never placed outside of the Top 3 during the whole time she was present in the show.


title: Sohyang

text: Sohyang was the first female singer to ever achieve 6 consecutive victories at that time and therefore set a new record, which was later broken by Son Seung-yeon ("The East Invincibility"). Sohyang received an average of 65.96 votes out of 99 every round, which was ranked in Top 10 of highest average scores of all Mask Kings and Top 3 highest average score of all female Mask Kings for a period of time.


title: Chamber of Representatives of Colombia

text: The Chamber of Representatives (Spanish: "Cámara de Representantes") is the lower house of the Congress of Colombia. It has 172 members elected to four-year terms.


title: Chamber of Representatives of Colombia

text: According to the Colombian Constitution, the Chamber of Representatives, currently composed of 166 representatives serving four-year terms, is elected in territorial constituencies, special constituencies and an international constituency.


title: Chamber of Representatives of Colombia

text: The departments (and the capital district of Bogotá D.C.) each form territorial electoral constituencies ("circunscripciones territoriales"). Each constituency has at least two members, and one more for every 365,000 inhabitants or fraction greater than 182,500 over and above the initial 365,000. For the legislative term 2014-2018, 161 of the Chamber's 166 members were elected in territorial constituencies.


title: Chamber of Representatives of Colombia

text: There are also three special constituencies, electing the remaining five members: one for Indigenous communities currently with one representative, one for Afro-Colombian communities ("negritudes") currently with two representatives and one for Colombian citizens resident abroad currently with one representative. As a result of the 2015 constitutional reform, the number of seats allocated to Colombian citizens resident abroad was reduced to one, from 2018 onward, as an additional special seat will be created for the territorial constituency of Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina to represent the archipelago's Raizal community.


title: Chamber of Representatives of Colombia

text: Since 2014, the assignment of additional seats is based on the corresponding proportional increase of the national population in accordance with census results. If as a result of the above a territorial constituency should lose one or more seats, it keeps the number of seats to which it was entitled to on July 20, 2002.


title: Chamber of Representatives of Colombia

text: For elections to the Chamber, political parties or other movements and groups run single lists, with a number of candidates not exceeding the total number of seats to be filled, although in constituencies with only two seats, party lists may include a third name. The current threshold for parties to win seats in a territorial constituency is 50% of the electoral quotient (total votes divided by total seats) in constituencies returning more than two members, and 30% of the electoral quotient in constituencies returning two members. Seats are then distributed using the distributing number, or "cifra repartidora". This number is obtained by successively dividing the number of votes received by each list by one, two, three and so forth, and placing the results in descending order until the total number of results equal to the number of seats to be filled. The lowest resulting number is called the distributing number ("cifra repartidora"). Each list shall obtain the number of seats that corresponds to the number of times the distributing number is contained in the total number of its votes.


title: Chamber of Representatives of Colombia

text: Parties may run a closed list, with the order of candidates pre-determined, or opt for preferential voting (open list), where the position of candidates on the list is reordered based on the individual preference votes of the voters. In congressional elections, voters choosing a party running a closed list only vote for the party list; voters who choose a party running an open list may indicate their candidate of preference among the names displayed on the ballot, if the voter does not indicate a preference and only votes for the party, the vote is valid for purposes of the threshold but not for reordering the list based on preferential votes.


title: Chamber of Representatives of Colombia

text: To be a representative, a person must be a Colombian citizen (by birth or naturalization) over the age of 25 at the time of the election.


title: Chamber of Representatives of Colombia

text: There are general rules of ineligibility and incompatibility which apply to both houses of Congress, explained here. In addition, general rules on the replacement and non-replacement of members depending on different circumstances also apply to both houses of Congress.


title: Chamber of Representatives of Colombia

text: Until the 2015 constitutional reform, the investigation and accusation commission (Comisión de Investigación y Acusación) of the House of Representatives was recommending to the plenary the indictment of the President, Constitutional Court justices, Supreme Court justices, Superior Council of the Judiciary members, Council of State justices and the Attorney General. These senior officials of the State were said to benefit from a "constitutional fuero", first enshrined in the 1886 Constitution and kept by the 1991 Constitution, although cabinet ministers lost their special constitutional protection in 1992.


title: Chamber of Representatives of Colombia

text: The House's accusation commission had been very criticized over the years, said to grant immunity to any senior official accused of corruption or wrongdoing. Between 1886 and 2014, only one of Colombia's 40 presidents, Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, was charged and sentenced by Congress in 1959 (after the end of his term), and that ruling was overturned by the Supreme Court seven years later. Between 1992 and 2014, the accusations commission received a total of 3,496 complaints, of which 56% were closed and 44% still pending. No case resulted in impeachment, and in fact only one case ever made its way to the floor of the House, that of President Ernesto Samper for the Proceso 8000.


title: Chamber of Representatives of Colombia

text: The government's constitutional reform in 2015 stripped the accusations commission of most of its power and restricted the existing "fuero constitucional" to the President. In its stead, the 2015 reform created the "Comisión de Aforados", which will investigate and indict the aforementioned judges and Attorney General, even if they may have ceased to exercise their functions. The commission will be made up of five members elected by a joint session of Congress for individual eight-year terms, from lists sent by the Council of Judicial Government and elaborated through a public competition. The eligibility, ineligibility and incompatibility rules for the commission will be the same as for members of the Supreme Court of Justice.


title: Chamber of Representatives of Colombia

text: In the case of investigations for unworthiness to serve for misconduct, the new commission shall present its charges, when necessary, to the House of Representatives, which will only be able to suspend or remove the accused from office. The House decision can be appealed to the Senate, which holds the final word. In such cases, the commission will have 60 days to present an accusation and 30 days to decide. In the case of investigations for other crimes, the commission shall present charges to the Supreme Court of Justice for further prosecution.


title: Chamber of Representatives of Colombia

text: The new commission will be formed after a transitional period of one year, during which the accusations commission retains its original responsibilities.


title: Chamber of Representatives of Colombia

text: The most recent parliamentary election in Colombia took place on 13 March 2022. For elections before that, see the below table:


title: Croatian Parliament

text: The Croatian Parliament () or the Sabor is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Croatia. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the people and is vested with legislative power. The Sabor is composed of 151 members elected to a four-year term on the basis of direct, universal and equal suffrage by secret ballot. Seats are allocated according to the Croatian Parliament electoral districts: 140 members of the parliament are elected in multi-seat constituencies. An additional three seats are reserved for the diaspora and Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, while national minorities have eight places reserved in parliament. The Sabor is presided over by a Speaker, who is assisted by at least one deputy speaker (usually four or five deputies).


title: Croatian Parliament

text: The Sabor's powers are defined by the Constitution and they include: defining economic, legal and political relations in Croatia, preservation and use of its heritage and entering into alliances. The Sabor has the right to deploy the Croatian Armed Forces abroad, and it may restrict some constitutional rights and liberties in wartime or in cases of imminent war or following natural disasters. The Sabor amends the borders of Croatia or the Constitution, enacts legislation, passes the state budget, declares war and decides on cessation of hostilities, adopts parliamentary resolutions and bylaws, adopts long-term national security and defence strategies, implements civil supervision of the armed forces and security services, calls referendums, performs elections and appointments conforming to the constitution and applicable legislation, supervises operations of the Government and other civil services responsible to the parliament, grants amnesty for criminal offences and performs other duties defined by the constitution.


title: Croatian Parliament

text: The oldest Sabor with extant records was held in Zagreb on 19 April 1273. This was the Sabor of Slavonia, and not of Croatia and Dalmatia. The earliest Sabor of the Kingdom of Croatia and Dalmatia dates to 1351. The Parliament session held in 1527 in Cetin affirmed the House of Habsburg as Croatian rulers. After this, the Sabor became a regular gathering of the nobility, and its official title gradually stabilised by 1558 as the Parliament of the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia. Since 1681, it has been formally called the Diet of the Kingdom of Croatia, Dalmatia and Slavonia. In 1712, the Sabor once again invoked its prerogative to select the ruler, supporting what later became the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713. Since the mid-1800s, the Sabor has regularly met and its members have been regularly elected. Exercising its sovereignty once again on 29 October 1918, the Sabor decided on independence from Austria-Hungary and formation of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs which later joined the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. The Sabor did not meet between 1918 and 1945, except for an unelected Sabor convened in 1942. The Sabor initially reconvened as an assembly of State Anti-fascist Council for the National Liberation of Croatia (ZAVNOH) in 1943 and evolved since through various structures following the November 1945 elections and several changes of the constitution. After the first multi-party elections since Communist rule and the adoption of the 1990 constitution, the Sabor was bicameral (Chamber of Representatives and Chamber of Counties) until 2001, when constitutional amendments changed it to the unicameral form currently used.


title: Croatian Parliament

text: The Sabor, in its various forms, has represented the identity and opinions of Croats from the diets of the 9th century nobility to the modern parliament. The oldest Sabor whose records are preserved was held in Zagreb on 19 April 1273 as the "Congregatio Regni totius Sclavonie generalis" or "Universitas nobilium Regni Sclavoniae" (General diet of the entire kingdom of Slavonia or Community of the nobility of the kingdom of Slavonia). Its decisions had legislative power. The 1527 Parliament decision was a decisive event of fundamental importance for the extension and confirmation of Croatian statehood, as described by the Constitution of Croatia. The parliament freely chose Ferdinand I of the House of Habsburg as the new ruler of Croatia, after centuries of Croatian personal union with Hungary. Following the entry into the Habsburg Monarchy, the Sabor became a regular noble diet, and its official title gradually stabilised by 1558 to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia. Since 1681 it has been formally styled as the "Congregatio Regnorum Croatiae, Dalmatiae et Slavoniae" or "Generalis Congregatio dominorum statuum et ordinum Regni" (Diet of the Kingdom of Croatia, Dalmatia and Slavonia or General Diet of the Estates of the Realm). In 1712, the Sabor once again invoked its prerogative to select the ruler, supporting what later became the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 and electing Maria Theresa of Austria as monarch. This event is also specified by the Constitution of Croatia as a part of the foundation of unbroken Croatian statehood from the Middle Ages to the present.


title: Croatian Parliament

text: In 1848 first modern Diet with the elected representatives was summoned (even high nobility and high dignitaries of the Catholic and Orthodox church remained "ex officio" members). The Sabor operated as the legislative authority during the existence of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia (1848/1868 – 1918). The events of 1848 in Europe and in the Austrian Empire represent a watershed in Croatian society and politics, given their linkage to the Croatian national revival that strongly influenced and significantly shaped political and social events in Croatia from that point onwards to the end of the 20th century. At the time, the Sabor advocated the implicit severance of ties with the Kingdom of Hungary, emphasizing links to other South Slavic lands within the empire. A period of neo-absolutism was followed by the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and Croatian–Hungarian Settlement, recognizing the limited independence of Croatia, together with reinvigorated claims of uninterrupted Croatian statehood. Two political parties that evolved in the 1860s and contributed significantly to this sentiment were the Party of Rights (1861–1929) and the People's Party. They were opposed by the National Constitutional Party that was in power for most of the period between the 1860s and 1918, which advocated closer ties between Croatia and Hungary. Another significant party formed in this era was the Serb People's Independent Party, which would later form the Croat-Serb Coalition with the Party of Rights and other Croat and Serb parties. This Coalition ruled Croatia between 1903 and 1918. The Croatian Peasant Party (HSS), established in 1904 and led by Stjepan Radić, advocated Croatian autonomy but achieved only moderate gains by 1918. In the Kingdom of Dalmatia, two major parties were the People's Party, a branch of the People's Party active in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, and the Autonomist Party, which advocated maintaining the autonomy of Dalmatia, opposing the People's Party's demands for unifying Croatia-Slavonia and Dalmatia. The Autonomist Party was also linked to Italian irredentism.


title: Croatian Parliament

text: By the 1900s, the Party of Rights also made electoral gains in Dalmatia. In Dalmatia, the Autonomists won the first three elections held there in 1861, 1864 and 1867, while those from 1870 to 1908 were won by the People's Party. In 1861–1918 there were 17 elections in Croatia-Slavonia and 10 in Dalmatia.


title: Croatian Parliament

text: Exercising its sovereignty once again on 29 October 1918, the Sabor decided on independence from Austria-Hungary and formation of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. The council of the newly established state voted to form the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes; however, the Sabor never confirmed that decision. The 1921 constitution defining the new kingdom as a unitary state, and the abolition of historical administrative divisions, effectively ended Croatian autonomy for the time and the Sabor did not convene until the 1940s. The Cvetković–Maček Agreement of August 1939 established the autonomous Province of Croatia, or Banovina of Croatia, in which the Yugoslav government retained control of defence, internal security, foreign affairs, trade, and transport, while other matters were left to the Croatian Sabor and a crown-appointed ban (Viceroy or governor). Before any elections were held, the establishment was made obsolete with the beginning of World War II and the establishment of the Independent State of Croatia which banned all political opposition. In 1942, three sessions of an unelected Sabor were held in the Independent State of Croatia; these were held between 23 February and 28 December 1942, when it was formally dissolved. The assembly had no real power as the state was under the direct rule of (the fascist) Ante Pavelić.


title: Croatian Parliament

text: The post-World War II Sabor developed from the National Anti-fascist Council of the People's Liberation of Croatia (ZAVNOH), formed in 1943. In 1945, ZAVNOH transformed itself into the National Sabor of Croatia, preserving the continuity of Croatian sovereignty. After the war, the Communists ran unopposed in the 1945 elections; all opposition parties boycotted the elections due to coercion and intimidation by the OZNA secret police and the Communist Party, aimed at eliminating electoral dissent. Once in power, the Communists introduced a single-party political system, with the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (from 1952 the League of Communists of Yugoslavia) as the ruling party and the Communist Party of Croatia (from 1952 the League of Communists of Croatia) as a branch party. In January 1990, the Communist Party fragmented along national lines, with the Croatian faction demanding a looser federation.


title: Croatian Parliament

text: During Communist rule, the Sabor went from a unicameral parliament as specified by the 1947 constitution, to bicameral in 1953, changing again in 1963 to as many as five chambers and then to three in 1974. The constitutional amendments of 1971 established the Presidency of the Sabor, and one of its functions became representing Croatia, as the Yugoslav constituent republics were essentially viewed as nation-states generally surrendering only their foreign and defence policies to the federation; the federal bodies were no longer independent of, but instead formed by, the republics (after 1974 constitution, this role was taken by newly formed Presidency of the Republic elected by the Sabor).


title: Croatian Parliament

text: The first political party founded in Croatia since the beginning of the Communist rule was the Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS), established on 20 May 1989, followed by the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) on 17 June 1989. In December, Ivica Račan became the head of the reformed Communist party. At this time, the Communist party decided to cancel political trials, release political prisoners and endorse a multi-party political system. The Civil Organisations Act was formally amended to allow multiple political parties on 11 January 1990, legalising the new parties. By the time of the first round of the first multi-party elections, held on 22 April 1990, there were 33 registered parties. There were single-seat constituencies for half of the seats and a single nationwide constituency (through election lists) for the remaining seats. Still, the most relevant parties and coalitions were the renamed Communist party (the League of Communists of Croatia — Party of Democratic Changes), the HDZ and the Coalition of People's Accord (KNS), which included the HSLS, led by Dražen Budiša, and the HSS, which resumed operating in Croatia in December 1989. The runoff election, open to any candidate receiving at least 7% of the vote, was held on 6 May 1990. The HDZ led by Franjo Tuđman won ahead of the reformed Communists and the KNS. The KNS, led by the former leaders of the Croatian Spring (Savka Dabčević-Kučar and Miko Tripalo), soon splintered into individual parties. On 8 October 1991, Croatia's declaration of independence took effect. The HDZ maintained a parliamentary majority until the 2000 parliamentary elections when it was defeated by the SDP led by Račan. The HDZ returned to power in the 2003 elections, while the SDP remained the largest opposition party.


title: Croatian Parliament

text: The Parliament represents the citizens of the Republic of Croatia; it acts as the country's legislature. It convenes regularly in two sessions each year, from 15 January to 15 July and from 15 September to 15 December; however, extraordinary sessions may be called by the President of Croatia, the government of Croatia or a majority of the parliamentary members. The sessions are open to the public. The parliament decides through simple majority votes, except in issues pertaining to (constitutionally recognised) ethnic minorities in Croatia, the constitution, electoral legislation, the scope and operational methods of governmental bodies and local government; in these cases, decisions are made by two-thirds majority votes. The parliament may authorise the government to enact regulations dealing with matters normally covered by parliamentary acts. Such regulations expire one year after the authorisation is issued. The authorisation does not apply to matters that must be decided upon by a parliamentary two-thirds vote. Legislation enacted by the parliament is either endorsed by the President of Croatia within eight days or referred to the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia.


title: Croatian Parliament

text: The members are granted parliamentary immunity; their criminal prosecution is possible only after parliamentary consent, except for crimes with five or more years of imprisonment mandated. The parliament may appoint investigative commissions for any matter of public interest.


title: Croatian Parliament

text: The Croatian parliament's powers are defined by the Constitution of Croatia. These include: defining economic, legal and political relations in the Republic of Croatia; preservation of Croatia's natural and cultural heritage and its utilisation; and forming alliances with other states. The parliament has the right to deploy Croatian Armed Forces abroad. It may also restrict constitutional rights and liberties in wartime or in cases of imminent war or following natural disasters, although that constitutional provision is limited to specific rights—right to life, prohibition of torture, cruel or denigrating conduct or punishment, upholding of habeas corpus and freedoms of thought, conscience and religious views. In addition, in those circumstances parliamentary members' terms may be extended. (As these rights are defined by the constitution, the decision would require a two-thirds majority. Since Croatia never declared a state of war during the breakup of Yugoslavia, this option has not been exercised in practice.) The parliament reserves the right to amend the borders of Croatia. The parliament decides on constitutional amendments, enacts legislation, passes the state budget, declares war and decides on the cessation of hostilities, adopts declarations of policy of the parliament, adopts national defence strategy, representing a long-term defence resource planning document, and national defence strategy, which defines bases for establishment and implementation of institutions, measures and activities in response to general security issues and specific challenges and threats to Croatia, implements civil supervision of the armed forces and security services, calls referendums, performs elections and appointments conforming to the constitution and applicable legislation, supervises operations of the government (headed by the Prime Minister of Croatia) and other civil services responsible to the parliament, grants amnesty for criminal offences and performs various other duties defined by the constitution. Becoming the Prime Minister of Croatia requires majority support in the parliament.


title: Croatian Parliament

text: The Government is responsible to the parliament; some other institutions, such as the Croatian National Bank and the State Audit Office, also report directly to the parliament. The parliament appoints an ombudsman to promote and protect human rights and liberties established by the constitution, parliamentary legislation and treaties adopted by Croatia. The ombudsman is appointed for an eight-year term; the ombudsman's work is independent. The ombudsman, as well as all other persons authorised to act on behalf of the parliament, is granted parliamentary immunity equal to that enjoyed by parliamentary members.


title: Croatian Parliament

text: The members of the parliament elect the Speaker of the Parliament and one or more deputy speakers by a simple majority vote.


title: Croatian Parliament

text: Since the first multi-party elections held after the start of Communist rule, there have been eight speakers of the parliament; the first five, executing the office until constitutional amendments in March 2001, were also speakers of the Chamber of Deputies (since the parliament was bicameral at the time). As of 28 December 2015, Željko Reiner (HDZ) is the tenth Speaker of the Sabor. There are five deputy speakers in the current parliament: Ante Sanader (HDZ), Rajko Ostojić (SDP), Željko Reiner (HDZ), Davorko Vidović (Ind.) and Furio Radin (Ind.).


title: Croatian Parliament

text: The speaker of the parliament becomes the acting President of the Republic in the event of the death, resignation or incapacitation of the President of Croatia, as specified by the constitution. This situation occurred after the death of Franjo Tuđman in 1999, when Vlatko Pavletić became the acting president. After the 2000 parliamentary elections, the role was transferred to Zlatko Tomčić, who filled the office until Stjepan Mesić was elected President of Croatia in 2000.


title: Croatian Parliament

text: The Constitution of Croatia mandates that the parliament consists of at least 100 members and no more than 160 members, elected by a direct secret ballot for four-year terms. Parliamentary elections are held within 60 days following the term's expiration or parliamentary dissolution (the latter takes place with a parliamentary no-confidence vote or if the parliament fails to approve a state budget within 120 days after the government submits one for approval), and a new parliament must convene within 20 days after the elections.


title: Croatian Parliament

text: As specified by the current electoral legislation in Croatia, 140 members of the Parliament are elected in multi-seat constituencies, up to 3 members are chosen by proportional representation to represent Croatian citizens residing abroad and 8 members represent ethnic and national communities or minorities (including "undeclared", "unknown", or otherwise other than constitutionally recognized groups).


title: Croatian Parliament

text: The model of parliamentary elections is based on the Christmas Constitution (1990), but has been significantly modified four times since then, most recently in 1999.


title: Croatian Parliament

text: The most recent substantial revision of the election law came in February 2015, and was partially upheld by the Constitutional Court in September 2015. An element of preferential voting was introduced by letting voters choose not only for a list of candidates, but also a single member of the same list. If the percentage of votes for a candidate exceeds 10%, they are elected as if it was an open list system. The list ranking is maintained for those candidates that do not meet this quota.


title: Croatian Parliament

text: Since 1990, seven parliamentary elections have been held in Croatia. The elections held in 1990 were the first multi-party elections following 45 years of Communist rule. The Parliament had three chambers at the time; the candidates ran for all 80 seats in the Social-Political Council of Croatia, all 116 seats to the Municipalities Council of Croatia and all 160 seats to the Associated Labour Council of Croatia. The first round of the election saw a turnout of 85.5%; the turnout for the runoff election was 74.8%. In this election, the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) won 205 seats and the Social Democratic Party of Croatia won 107. Between then and 2007, five parliamentary elections were held for the Chamber of Deputies () of the parliament or the unicameral parliament since (in 1992, 1995, 2000, 2003 and 2007). Starting with the 1992 elections, the number of seats first in the Chamber of Deputies, and then in the unicameral parliament, were significantly variable: ranging from 127 in 1995 to 153 in 2007. In the Croatian parliamentary elections held since 1992, when the number of seats in the parliament was limited to below 160, only 5 parties have won 10 seats or more in any one parliamentary election. These were the HDZ, the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS), the Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats (HNS), the Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS) and the SDP.


title: Croatian Parliament

text: Several political parties, besides the HDZ, HSS, HNS, HSLS and SDP, have won parliamentary seats in the elections since 1990. These have been (in alphabetical order): the Alliance of Primorje-Gorski Kotar (previously named Rijeka Democratic Alliance), the Croatian Christian Democratic Union, the Croatian Citizen Party, the Croatian Democratic Alliance of Slavonia and Baranja, the Croatian Democratic Peasant Party, the Croatian Independent Democrats, the Croatian Party of Pensioners, the Croatian Party of Rights, the Croatian Party of Rights dr. Ante Starčević, the Dalmatian Action party, the Democratic Centre party, the Istrian Democratic Assembly, the Liberal Party, the Party of Liberal Democrats, the Serb Democratic Party, the Slavonia-Baranja Croatian Party, and the Social Democratic Action of Croatia party.


title: Croatian Parliament

text: The following parties have won special seats reserved for representatives elected by minorities (also in alphabetical order): the Bosnian Democratic Party of Croatia, the Democratic Union of Hungarians of Croatia, the German People's Union – National Association of Danube Swabians in Croatia, the Independent Democratic Serb Party, the Party of Democratic Action of Croatia, and the Serb People's Party.


title: Croatian Parliament

text: In addition, some independents have won seats through party lists by being elected as an independent running on a party's list, and Ivan Grubišić's list of non-partisan candidates has won seats as well. Since individuals (not parties) possess parliamentary seats once won, there also can be (and have been) instances where seat-holders became independent or switched to another political party.


title: Croatian Parliament

text: (*)In the first multi-party elections in 1990 three parliamentary chambers were elected in a two-round majoritarian system: the Social-Political Council, the Council of Municipalities and the Council of Associated Labour. Turnout for the election each chamber varied. It was as follows: Social-Political council (84.5% in first round in all constituencies, 74.82% in second round in 51 of 80 constituencies), Council of Municipalities (84.1% in first round, 74.6% in second round) and Council of Associated Labour (76.5% in first round in all constituencies, 66% in second round in 103 of 160 constituencies).


title: Croatian Parliament

text: Under the Constitution of Croatia adopted in 1990, the parliament became bicameral. The Chamber of Deputies had been elected a few months earlier; its members enacted legislation creating a new territorial organisation of Croatia. This reorganisation included counties that were to be represented by the new Chamber of Counties (). The first election of members of the chamber was on 7 February 1993, with each of the counties acting as a three-seat constituency using proportional representation. In addition, as per Article 71 of the 1990 constitution, the President of Croatia was given the option of appointing up to 5 additional members of the Chamber of Counties; it could have as many as 68 members. The second and last election for the Chamber of Counties of the parliament was on 13 April 1997. The Chamber of Counties was abolished by a 2001 constitutional amendment.


title: Croatian Parliament

text: The Croatian Parliament publishes all its decisions in Narodne Novine, the official gazette of the Republic of Croatia. Article 90 of the constitution requires publication of all acts and other regulations in the gazette before they are legally binding. Narodne Novine is available through a paid subscription as print, or for free online. Parliamentary debates and other proceedings are the subject of news coverage by media of Croatia, and Saborska televizija was set up in 2007 in addition as an IPTV channel broadcasting all plenary sessions of the parliament. Finally, the Parliament's Public Relations Department publishes a news bulletin available to all institutions and citizens of Croatia through a print paid subscription, and online for free.


title: Croatian Parliament

text: The Sabor has convened in Zagreb since the 13th century, but there was no special building for this until the 18th century. Previously, sessions of the Sabor had been held in private houses, in royal estates in Gradec and at the bishop's residence. During the Croatian-Ottoman Wars, which severely disrupted the functioning of the Croatian kingdom, the Sabor's sessions became so impractical that the 1685 session decided to have the ban appoint a six-member committee to do the work of the Sabor when sessions were not possible. This body became operational in 1689 and had its mandate extended through the entire 18th and into the 19th century. This "" consisted of the ban, two high clerics and three or four noblemen, and it would bring forward numerous acts; it met in various places, usually Zagreb or Varaždin, but also in Čiče, Ludbreg, Kerestinec, Vienna, Želin, Bratislava, Klenovnik, Slunj, Glina, Petrinja, Rasinja, Ptuj and Budim.


title: Croatian Parliament

text: In 1731, the government purchased houses at the site of the present building and construction of a new building started the next year. The Sabor first met in the new building on 6 May 1737. The building was originally designed to accommodate archives, the court and the office of the ban; however, the government of Zagreb County moved in as well in 1765. The ban's office, the court and the archives moved out of the building in 1807, when a building across St. Mark's Square was bought to accommodate them. Subsequently, the newly purchased building was named Banski dvori after its new primary purpose of housing the ban and his office. The Zagreb County government purchased buildings adjacent to the parliament in 1839 and commissioned a new building at the site. It was completed in 1849; in the meantime, the Sabor had to convene elsewhere; it met in a theatre building located on a corner of the square. The theatre building later became the Zagreb City Hall.


title: Croatian Parliament

text: In 1907, the government of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia bought the parliament building and adjacent structures, starting construction of the present parliament building. At the same time, the Zagreb County government moved its headquarters elsewhere, leaving the Sabor as the sole user. The present parliament building was completed in 1911 using the design of Lav Kalda and Karlo Susan.


title: Benjaman Kyle

text: "Benjaman Kyle" was the alias chosen by an American man who had severe amnesia. On August 31, 2004, he was found, naked and injured, without any possessions or identification, next to a dumpster behind a Burger King restaurant in Richmond Hill, Georgia. Between 2004 and 2015, neither he nor the authorities had determined his identity or background, despite searches that had included television publicity and various other methods.


title: Benjaman Kyle

text: In late 2015, genetic detective work, which had gone on for years, led to the discovery of his identity as William Burgess Powell, born August 29, 1948. A gap of more than 20 years in his life history still remains without any documented records. With the rediscovery of his Social Security number, he has again become eligible for employment and has received public assistance.


title: Benjaman Kyle

text: On August 31, 2004, at 5:00a.m., a Burger King employee in Richmond Hill, Georgia, found Kyle unconscious, naked, and sunburned behind a dumpster of the restaurant. He had three depressions in his skull that appeared to have been caused by blunt force trauma and he also had red ant bites on his body. After discovering him, employees called the emergency services, and EMS took him to St. Joseph's/Candler Hospital in Savannah. He had no identity document and was recorded in hospital records as "Burger King Doe". After the incident, no criminal investigation was opened by Richmond Hill police until a friend inquired with the department in 2007. There were no reports of stolen vehicles in the area and local restaurants and hotels did not encounter any individuals matching Kyle's description. Two weeks later he was transferred to Memorial Health University Medical Center, where records state he was semiconscious.


title: Benjaman Kyle

text: He eventually said that he remembered his name was Benjaman, spelled with two 'a's, but said he could not recall his last name. He came up with the surname "Kyle" from his police and hospital placeholder name. He had cataracts in both eyes, and had corrective surgery nine months after he was found, when a charity raised enough money to pay for the operation. Upon seeing himself in the mirror for the first time, Kyle realized he was around 20 years older than he thought he was.


title: Benjaman Kyle

text: Kyle believed he was passing through Richmond Hill, either on U.S. Route 17 or Interstate 95 in late August 2004. He may also have been on the road because of Hurricane Charley, which had hit earlier that month.


title: Benjaman Kyle

text: After being released from the hospital, Kyle spent several years between the Grace House men's shelter and hospitals. In 2007 while at The J.C. Lewis Health Care Center he met a nurse who first inquired about his past. The nurse helped support Kyle financially while he earned about $100 a month mostly doing yard work. While driving his truck in a yard, Kyle discovered that he still remembered how to drive a car. He was diagnosed with dissociative amnesia in 2007 by Jason A. King in Atlanta. King suggested that Kyle's amnesia dates from August 31, 2004. Georgia Legal Services did not obtain medical records for Kyle because Memorial Health requested an $800 fee. A friend contacted Georgia Congressman Jack Kingston for help with the case. To help with Kyle's identification, Kingston's office sent DNA samples to the FBI's National Criminal Justice Information Services Division in West Virginia.


title: Benjaman Kyle

text: In March 2011, Kyle was approached by Florida State University's College of Motion Picture Arts graduate student John Wikstrom. Kyle moved to Jacksonville, Florida, traveling on foot, in order to be filmed for a documentary. In 2011, with help from Florida State Representative Mike Weinstein, Kyle was able to obtain a legal, government-issued Florida Legacy ID. Kyle's story appeared in a report on News4Jax, which caught the attention of a local business owner who subsequently employed Kyle as a dishwasher. he lived in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, in a 5-by-8-foot, air-conditioned shack provided by a benefactor.


title: Benjaman Kyle

text: For many years after his amnesia Kyle was homeless and had been unable to obtain employment as he was unable to remember his full Social Security number. Several online petitions were created asking lawmakers to grant Kyle a new Social Security number. In 2012, an online petition was created on the We the People petitioning system on whitehouse.gov,


title: Benjaman Kyle

text: but when its deadline expired on December 25, it had received only two-thirds of the number of signatures required to receive an official response. In February 2015, forensic genealogist Colleen Fitzpatrick reported that Kyle had cut off all contact with her just as she felt she was nearing a breakthrough. A DNA test revealed that Kyle shared significant amount of DNA with members of a family named Powell in the western Carolinas descendants of a 19th-century man named Abraham Lovely Powell.


title: Benjaman Kyle

text: On September 16, 2015, Kyle announced that his real identity had been found, including identifying his name and close family members.


title: Benjaman Kyle

text: There were a number of major efforts to identify Kyle by matching his fingerprints or DNA with that stored in various databases. These efforts included:


title: Benjaman Kyle

text: In July 2009, a search was being made by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for Kyle's Vietnam draft registration, based on his birthdate and his physical characteristics.


title: Benjaman Kyle

text: Newspaper articles were published in the "Boulder Daily Camera" on July 5, 2009, and in the "Denver Post" on July 7, 2009. Based on Kyle's memories of the University of Colorado Boulder campus, it was hoped at the time that someone would respond to the articles to identify him.


title: Benjaman Kyle

text: Kyle took several DNA tests that offer clues to his origins. A genetic genealogy DNA test by Family Tree DNA produced a distant match with members of the Powell DNA Study. Based on these results, in March 2010 an almost perfect DNA match was discovered in the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation database with a Davidson of Scottish ancestry, a grandson of Robert Holden Davidson (b. 1885, Logan, Utah, d. 1946, Chico, California). This Davidson's results were very different from other Davidsons who have been tested by the Davidson/Davison/Davisson Research DNA Study Project. The fact that Kyle had several weak matches to Powells, with a single strong match to a Davidson, indicates a possible non-paternity event in the male line of his family—that is, an adoption, a name change, or an illegitimacy. It was surmised that his legal name might be Davidson, but that in past generations, the family name was originally Powell. A comparison of the whereabouts of the Powell and Davidson families revealed that members of both families were living in proximity in the Pacific Northwest in the early 1900s.


title: Benjaman Kyle

text: A geographical comparison between Kyle's Y-DNA results and the YHRD Y Users Group database showed a somewhat close match in southern Kansas and northern Oklahoma, but the U.S. coverage in this database is sparse and includes only Y-DNA haplotypes. A more comprehensive autosomal DNA test by 23andMe relating to mixed-gender family lines reveals a large number of matches with ancestry in the western Carolinas, eastern Tennessee, northern Alabama, and northern Georgia.


title: Benjaman Kyle

text: Colleen Fitzpatrick attempted to create a family tree for Kyle, and based on DNA tests, cousins were identified from the western Carolinas who collaborated with her to try to determine his identity. Fitzpatrick's efforts had not yet pinpointed his exact identity when he cut off communication with her.


title: Benjaman Kyle

text: Kyle's appearance on a Reddit AMA in 2012 and again in 2013 attracted several possible leads, most of which were disproven.


title: Benjaman Kyle

text: Kyle remembered that he was born 10 years before Michael Jackson and on the same day, giving him a possible birth date of August 29, 1948. Genetic testing suggested that he may have had the surname Powell or Davidson or have relatives with these names. Through hypnosis, he recalled a partial Social Security number 3X5-44-XXXX, consistent with numbers assigned in Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana during the 1960s. Hypnosis suggested that Kyle had two or three brothers, whose names or faces he did not remember, but otherwise he could not recall any other people from his life. Kyle had memories of Indianapolis as a child, including the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, the Woolworth's on the Circle, and the Indiana Theater showing movies in Cinerama. He remembered Crown Hill Cemetery, although not its name, the Scottish Rite Cathedral, and the White River when "it was mostly just a dumping ground". He also remembered grilled cheese sandwiches for a quarter and glasses of milk for a nickel at the Indiana State Fair. Based on his reactions to the mention of nuns during hypnosis, he may have been raised Catholic and may have attended Catholic schools. Searching through Indianapolis area high school yearbook records came up empty, although records from that era are often incomplete.


title: Benjaman Kyle

text: More specific memories placed him in Indianapolis between at least 1954 and 1963. The earlier date is based on his recognition of the Fountain Square Theater, but not the Granada Theater in the Fountain Square area of town. The Granada closed in the mid-1950s. The later date is based on his recollections of a 2% retail sales tax that was enacted by the State of Indiana in 1963, and that the popular WLS Chicago radio station disc jockey Dick Biondi left the station that year over management issues.


title: Benjaman Kyle

text: Kyle also had memories of being in the Denver Metropolitan Area. He had detailed memories of the subscription the University of Colorado Boulder's Norlin Library had to "Restaurants & Institutions". He also remembered the Round the Corner Restaurant on The Hill, and the Flatirons and The Fox Theater near the Boulder campus. This placed Kyle in Colorado in the late 1970s to early 1980s. Kyle reported having memories of the controversy surrounding the construction of mass transit in Denver, at a time when the city still had no financing to proceed. Although the RTD Bus & Light Rail system in Denver went into operation in 1994, public debate over the construction of the system dates back to about 1980, consistent with the time period of the other memories that Kyle has of Denver and Boulder.


title: Benjaman Kyle

text: More specific memories of Boulder placed Kyle there between 1976 and 1983. The earlier date was based on his memory that he arrived during the construction of the Pearl Street Mall in the downtown area, and shortly after the Big Thompson Canyon flood that occurred on July 31 – August 1, 1976. The later date was based on the year that the King Soopers grocery store chain merged with Kroger.


title: Benjaman Kyle

text: Kyle had detailed knowledge of restaurant management and food preparation equipment, leading to the belief that he may have once worked in these industries.


title: Benjaman Kyle

text: Kyle had nearly no memory of his life after the 1980s, including how he ended up in Georgia. One event he does remember is reading about the September 11 attacks. When asked by doctors to recall the Presidents of the United States, he was able to recall only those from the 20th century. Many of his memories he cannot describe in words and are at the tip of his tongue.


title: Benjaman Kyle

text: On September 16, 2015, Kyle announced on his Facebook page that his identity had been established by a team of adoption researchers led by CeCe Moore.


title: Benjaman Kyle

text: "A little over two months ago I was informed by CeCe Moore that that they had established my Identity using DNA. Many people have shared their DNA profiles so that they may be compared with mine. Through a process of elimination they determined my ancestral bloodline and who my relatives were. A DNA test taken by a close relative has confirmed that we are related," Kyle wrote.


title: Benjaman Kyle

text: The "Orlando Sentinel" reported on September 22 that Kyle had received a Florida identification card with the help of IDignity, an Orlando-based organization that helps the homeless and others obtain identification documents. IDignity also assisted in establishing Kyle's identification.


title: Benjaman Kyle

text: On November 21, 2016, Kyle's true identity was revealed to be William Burgess Powell. He was born on August 29, 1948, in Lafayette, Indiana, and was raised there. In 1976, he had cut ties with his family and abandoned his possessions, including his car and the trailer where he had been living. His family filed a missing persons report at the time, and police found he had moved to Boulder, Colorado, where he had moved on a whim with a coworker. His birth date turned out to be one of the details about his previous life he had been able to remember correctly. A reporter was able to find some Social Security records of him working in various jobs until 1983, after which no records could be found for the remaining period of more than 20 years before his discovery in 2004.


title: Benjaman Kyle

text: Kyle appeared on the "Dr. Phil" show on the October 16, 2008, episode "Who am I". Dr. Phil paid for Kyle to seek a professional hypnotist in an effort to help him recover lost memories. He also appeared on local television networks across the country. Kyle says he has been met with skepticism about the case.


title: Benjaman Kyle

text: In March 2011, Kyle was the subject of a student documentary from Florida State University's College of Motion Picture Arts by filmmaker John Wikstrom. The film, entitled "Finding Benjaman", was in part a description about his curious circumstances, and in part an appeal to action for local media groups and politicians. The film was invited to be shown at the Tribeca Film Festival and at the American Pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival. Through the outreach involved with the film, Kent Justice of News4Jax (WJXT) ran a series on Kyle with the help of Florida Senator Mike Weinstein. Through Weinstein, and the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, Kyle was able to obtain a Legacy Identification Card to supplement the identity card he received when he was in Georgia. No new leads were developed by the story, but he was able to find work and housing through the generosity of viewers.


title: Benjaman Kyle

text: The news of Kyle's identification received widespread coverage, including stories by the "Orlando Sentinel", ABC News and New York's "Daily News".


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri is a 4X video game, considered a spiritual sequel to the "Civilization" series. Set in a science fiction depiction of the 22nd century, the game begins as seven competing ideological factions land on the planet Chiron ("Planet") in the Alpha Centauri star system. As the game progresses, Planet's growing sentience becomes a formidable obstacle to the human colonists.


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: Sid Meier, designer of "Civilization", and Brian Reynolds, designer of "Civilization II", developed "Alpha Centauri" after they left MicroProse to join with Jeff Briggs in creating a new video game developer: Firaxis Games. Electronic Arts released both "Alpha Centauri" and its expansion, "Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire", in 1999. The following year, Aspyr Media ported both titles to Classic Mac OS while Loki Software ported them to Linux.


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: "Alpha Centauri" features improvements on "Civilization II"s game engine, including simultaneous multiplay, social engineering, climate, customizable units, alien native life, additional diplomatic and spy options, additional ways to win, and greater mod-ability. "Alien Crossfire" introduces five new human and two non-human factions, as well as additional technologies, facilities, secret projects, native life, unit abilities, and a victory condition.


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: The game received wide critical acclaim, being compared favorably to "Civilization II". Critics praised its science fiction storyline (comparing the plot to works by Stanley Kubrick, Frank Herbert, Arthur C. Clarke, and Isaac Asimov), the in-game writing, the voice acting, the user-created custom units, and the depth of the technology tree. "Alpha Centauri" also won several awards for best game of the year and best strategy game of the year.


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: Space-race victories in the "Civilization" series conclude with a journey to Alpha Centauri. Beginning with that premise the "Alpha Centauri" narrative starts in the 22nd century, after the United Nations sends "Unity", a colonization mission, to Alpha Centauri's planet Chiron ("Planet"). Unbeknownst to humans, advanced extraterrestrials ("Progenitors") had been conducting experiments in vast distributed nervous systems, culminating in a planetary biosphere-sized presentient nervous system ("Manifold") on Chiron, leaving behind monoliths and artifacts on Planet to guide and examine the system's growth. Immediately prior to the start of the game, a reactor malfunction on the Unity spacecraft wakes the crew and colonists early and irreparably severs communications with Earth. After the captain is assassinated, the most powerful leaders on board build ideological factions with dedicated followers, conflicting agendas for the future of mankind, and "desperately serious" commitments. As the ship breaks up, seven escape pods, each containing a faction, are scattered across Planet.


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: In the "Alien Crossfire" expansion pack, players learn that alien experiments led to disastrous consequences at Tau Ceti, creating a hundred-million-year evolutionary cycle that ended with the eradication of most complex animal life in several neighboring inhabited star systems. After the disaster (referred to by Progenitors as "Tau Ceti Flowering"), the Progenitors split into two factions: Manifold Caretakers, opposed to further experimentation and dedicated to preventing another Flowering; and Manifold Usurpers, favoring further experimentation and intending to induce a controlled Flowering in "Alpha Centauri"s Planet. In "Alien Crossfire", these factions compete along with the human factions for control over the destiny of Planet.


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: The game focuses on the leaders of seven factions, chosen by the player from the 14 possible leaders in "Alpha Centauri" and "Alien Crossfire", and Planet (voiced by Alena Kanka). The characters are developed from the faction leaders' portraits, the spoken monologues accompanying scientific discoveries and the "photographs in the corner of a commlink – home towns, first steps, first loves, family, graduation, spacewalk." The leaders in "Alpha Centauri" comprise: Lady Deirdre Skye, a Scottish activist (voiced by Carolyn Dahl), of "Gaia's Stepdaughters"; Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang, a Chinese Legalist official (voiced by Lu Yu), of the "Human Hive"; Academician Prokhor Zakharov, a Russian academic (voiced by Yuri Nesteroff) of the "University of Planet"; CEO Nwabudike Morgan, a Namibian businessman (voiced by Regi Davis), of "Morgan Industries"; Colonel Corazon Santiago, a Puerto Rican militiawoman (voiced by Wanda Niño), of the "Spartan Federation"; Sister Miriam Godwinson, an American minister and social psychologist (voiced by Gretchen Weigel), of the "Lord's Believers"; and Commissioner Pravin Lal, an Indian surgeon and diplomat (voiced by Hesh Gordon), of the "Peacekeeping Forces".


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: The player controls one of the leaders and competes against the others to colonize and conquer Planet. The Datalinks (voiced by Robert Levy and Katherine Ferguson) are minor characters who provide information to the player. Each faction excels at one or two important aspects of the game and follows a distinct philosophical belief, such as technological utopianism, Conclave Christianity, "free-market" capitalism, militarist survivalism, Chinese Legalism, U.N. Charter humanitarianism, or Environmentalist Gaia philosophy. The game takes place on Planet, with its "rolling red ochre plains" and "bands of lonely terraformed green".


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: The seven additional faction leaders in "Alien Crossfire" are Prime Function Aki Zeta-Five, a Norwegian research assistant-turned-cyborg (voiced by Allie Rivenbark), of "The Cybernetic Consciousness"; Captain Ulrik Svensgaard, an American fisherman and naval officer (voiced by James Liebman), of "The Nautilus Pirates"; Foreman Domai, an Australian labor leader (voiced by Frederick Serafin), of "The Free Drones"; Datajack Sinder Roze, a Trinidadian hacker (voiced by Christine Melton), of "The Data Angels"; Prophet Cha Dawn, a human born on Planet (voiced by Stacy Spenser) of "The Cult of Planet"; Guardian Lular H'minee, a Progenitor leader (voiced by Jeff Gordon), of "The Manifold Caretakers"; and Conqueror Judaa Maar, a Progenitor leader (voiced by Jeff Gordon), of "The Manifold Usurpers".


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: The story unfolds via the introduction video, explanations of new technologies, videos obtained for completing secret projects, interludes, and cut-scenes. The native life consists primarily of simple wormlike alien parasites and a type of red fungus that spreads rapidly via spores. The fungus is difficult to traverse, provides invisibility for the enemy, provides few resources, and spawns "mindworms" that attack population centres and military units by neurally parasitising them. Mindworms can eventually be captured and bred in captivity and used as terroristic bioweapons, and the player eventually discovers that the fungus and mindworms can think collectively.


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: A voice intrudes into the player's dreams and soon waking moments, threatening more attacks if the industrial pollution and terraforming by the colonists is not reversed. The player discovers that Planet is a dormant semi-sentient hive organism that will soon experience a metamorphosis which will destroy all human life. To counter this threat, the player or a computer faction builds "The Voice of Alpha Centauri" secret project, which artificially links Planet's distributed nervous system into the human Datalinks, delaying Planet's metamorphosis into full self-awareness but incidentally increasing its ultimate intelligence substantially by giving it access to all of humanity's accumulated knowledge. Finally, the player or a computer faction embraces the "Ascent to Transcendence" in which humans too join their brains with the hive organism in its metamorphosis to godhood. Thus, "Alpha Centauri" closes "with a swell of hope and wonder in place of the expected triumphalism", reassuring "that the events of the game weren’t the entirety of mankind’s future, but just another step."


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: "Alpha Centauri", a turn-based strategy game with a science fiction setting, is played from an isometric perspective. Many game features from "Civilization II" are present, but renamed or slightly tweaked: players establish bases (Civilization II's cities), build facilities (buildings) and secret projects (Wonders of the World), explore territory, research technology, and conquer other factions (civilizations). In addition to conquering all non-allied factions, players may also win by obtaining votes from three quarters of the total population (similar to "Civilization IV"s Diplomatic victory), "cornering the Global Energy Market", completing the Ascent to Transcendence secret project, or for alien factions, constructing six Subspace Generators.


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: The main map (the upper two thirds of the screen) is divided into squares, on which players can establish bases, move units and engage in combat. Through terraforming, players may modify the effects of the individual map squares on movement, combat and resources. Resources are used to feed the population, construct units and facilities, and supply energy. Players can allocate energy between research into new technology and energy reserves. Unlike "Civilization II", new technology grants access to additional unit components rather than pre-designed units, allowing players to design and re-design units as their factions' priorities shift. Energy reserves allow the player to upgrade units, maintain facilities, and attempt to win by the Global Energy Market scenario. Bases are military strongpoints and objectives that are vital for all winning strategies. They produce military units, house the population, collect energy, and build secret projects and Subspace Generators. Facilities and secret projects improve the performance of individual bases and of the entire faction.


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: In addition to terraforming, optimizing individual base performance and building secret projects, players may also benefit their factions through social engineering, probe teams, and diplomacy. Social engineering modifies the ideologically based bonuses and penalties forced by the player's choice of faction. Probe teams can sabotage and steal information, units, technology, and energy from enemy bases, while diplomacy lets the player create coalitions with other factions. It also allows the trade or transfer of units, bases, technology and energy. The Planetary Council, similar to the United Nations Security Council, takes Planet-wide actions and determines population victories.


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: In addition to futuristic technological advances and secret projects, the game includes alien life, structures and machines. "Xenofungus" and "sea fungus" provide movement, combat, and resource penalties, as well as concealment for "mind worms" and "spore launchers". Immobile "fungal towers" spawn native life. Native life, including the seaborne "Isles of the Deep" and "Sealurks" and airborne "Locusts of Chiron", use psionic combat, an alternate form of combat which ignores weapons and armor. Monoliths repair units and provide resources; artifacts yield new technology and hasten secret projects; landmarks provide resource bonuses; and random events add danger and opportunity. Excessive development leads to terraforming-destroying fungus blooms and new native life.


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: "Alpha Centauri" provides a single player mode and supports customization and multiplayer. Players may customize the game by choosing options at the beginning of the game, using the built-in scenario and map editors, and modifying "Alpha Centauri"s game files. In addition to a choice of seven (or 14 in "Alien Crossfire") factions, pre-game options include scenario game, customized random map, difficulty level, and game rules that include victory conditions, research control, and initial map knowledge. The scenario and map editors allow players to create customized scenarios and maps. The game's basic rules, diplomatic dialog, and the factions' starting abilities are in text files, which "the designers have done their best to make it reasonably easy to modify..., even for non-programmers." "Alpha Centauri" supports play by email ("PBEM") and TCP/IP mode featuring simultaneous movement, and introduces direct player-to-player negotiation, allowing the unconstrained trade of technology, energy, maps, and other elements.


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: In 1996, MicroProse released the lauded "Civilization II", designed by Brian Reynolds. Spectrum Holobyte who owned MicroProse at the time, opted to consolidate their business under the MicroProse name, moving the company from Maryland to California by the time the game shipped, and laying off several MicroProse employees. Disagreements between the new management and its employees prompted Reynolds, Jeff Briggs, and Sid Meier (designer of the original "Civilization") to leave MicroProse and found Firaxis. Although unable to use the same intellectual property as "Civilization II", the new company felt that players wanted "a new sweeping epic of a turn-based game". Having just completed a game of human history up to the present, they wanted a fresh topic and chose science fiction.


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: With no previous experience in science fiction games, the developers believed future history was a fitting first foray. For the elements of exploring and terraforming an alien world, they chose a plausible near future situation of a human mission to colonize the solar system's nearest neighbour and human factions. Reynolds researched science fiction for the game's writing. His inspiration included "classic works of science fiction", including Frank Herbert's "The Jesus Incident" and Hellstrom's Hive, "A Fire Upon the Deep" by Vernor Vinge, and "The Mote in God's Eye" by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle for alien races; Kim Stanley Robinson's "Red Mars", "Slant" by Greg Bear, and Stephen R. Donaldson's "The Real Story" for future technology and science; and "Dune" by Herbert and Bear's "Anvil of Stars" for negative interactions between humans.


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: "Alpha Centauri" set out to capture the whole sweep of humanity's future, including technology, futuristic warfare, social and economic development, the future of the human condition, spirituality, and philosophy. Reynolds also said that "getting philosophy into the game" was one of the attractions of the game. Believing good science fiction thrives on constraint, the developers began with near-future technologies. As they proceeded into the future, they tried to present a coherent, logical, and detailed picture of future developments in physics, biology, information technology, economics, society, government, and philosophy. Alien ecologies and mysterious intelligences were incorporated into "Alpha Centauri" as external "natural forces" intended to serve as flywheels for the backstory and a catalyst for many player intelligences. Chris Pine, creator of the in-game map of Planet, strove to make Planet look like a real planet, which resulted in evidence of tectonic action. Another concern was that Planet matched the story, which resulted in the fungus being connected across continents, as it is supposed to be a gigantic neural network.


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: Terraforming is a natural outgrowth of colonizing an alien world. The first playable prototype was just a map generator that tested climate changes during the game. This required the designers to create a world builder program and climatic model far more powerful than anything they'd done before. Temperature, wind, and rainfall patterns were modeled in ways that allow players to make changes: for example, creating a ridge-line and then watching the effects. In addition to raising terrain, the player can also divert rivers, dig huge boreholes into the planet's mantle, and melt ice caps.


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: In addition to scientific advances, the designers speculated on the future development of human society. The designers allow the player to decide on a whole series of value choices and choose a "ruthless", "moderate", or "idealistic" stance. Reynolds said the designers don't promote a single "right" answer, instead giving each value choice positive and negative consequences. This design was intended to force the player to "think" and make the game "addictive". He also commented that "Alpha Centauri"s fictional nature allowed them to draw their characters "a lot more sharply and distinctly than the natural blurring and greyness of history".


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: Chiron, the name of the planet, is the name of the only non-barbaric centaur in Greek mythology and an important loregiver and teacher for humanity. The name also pays homage to James P. Hogan's 1982 space opera novel "Voyage from Yesteryear", in which a human colony is artificially planted by an automatic probe on a planet later named by colonists as Chiron. In the game, Chiron has two moons, named after the centaurs Nessus and Pholus, with the combined tidal force of Earth's Moon, and is the second planet out from Alpha Centauri A, the innermost planet being the Mercury-like planet named after the centaur Eurytion. Alpha Centauri B is also dubbed Hercules, a reference to him killing several centaurs in mythology, and the second star preventing the formation of larger planets. The arrival on Chiron is referred to as "Planetfall", which is a term used in many science fiction novels, including Robert A. Heinlein's "Future History" series, and Infocom's celebrated comic interactive fiction adventure "Planetfall". Vernor Vinge's concept of "technological singularity" is the origin of the Transcendence concept. The game's cutscenes use montages of live-action video, CGI, or both; most of the former is from the 1992 experimental documentary "Baraka".


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: In July 1996, Firaxis began work on "Alpha Centauri", with Reynolds heading the project. Meier and Reynolds wrote playable prototype code and Jason Coleman wrote the first lines of the development libraries. Because the development of "Gettysburg" took up most of Firaxis' time, the designers spent the first year prototyping the basic ideas. By late 1996, the developers were playing games on the prototype, and by the middle of the next year, they were working on a multiplayer engine. Although Firaxis intended to include multiplayer support in its games, an important goal was to create games with depth and longevity in single-player mode because they believed that the majority of players spend most of their time playing this way. Reynolds felt that smart computer opponents are an integral part of a classic computer game, and considered it a challenge to make them so. Reynolds' previous games omitted internet support because he believed that complex turn-based games with many player options and opportunities for player input are difficult to facilitate online.


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: Reynolds said that the most important principle of game design is for the designer to play the game as it is developed; Reynolds claimed that this was how a good artificial intelligence (AI) was built. To this end, he would track the decisions he made and why he made them as he played the game. The designer also watched what the computer players did, noting "dumb" actions and trying to discover why the computer made them. Reynolds then taught the computer his reasoning process so the AI could find the right choice when presented several attractive possibilities. He said the AI for diplomatic personalities was the best he had done up to that point.


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: Doug Kaufman, a co-designer of "Civilization II", was invited to join development as a game balancer. Reynolds cited the "Alpha Centauri"s balance for the greater sense of urgency and the more pressing pacing than in his earlier game, "Sid Meier's Colonization". According to producer Timothy Train, in designing the strengths and weaknesses of the factions, the goal was to suggest, without requiring, certain strategies and give the player interesting and fun things to do without unbalancing the game. He didn't want a faction to be dependent on its strength or a faction's power to be dominant over the rest. Train felt that fun meant the factions always have something fun to do with their attributes.


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: Around the summer of 1997, the staff began research on the scientific realities involved in interstellar travel. In late 1997, Bing Gordon—then Chief Creative Officer of Electronic Arts—joined the team, and was responsible for the Planetary Council, extensive diplomacy, and landmarks. A few months before the 1998 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), the team incorporated the Explore/Discover/Build/Conquer marketing campaign into the game. The game was announced in May 1998 at E3.


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: In the latter half of 1998, the team produced a polished and integrated interface, wrote the game manual and foreign language translations, painted the faction leader portraits and terrain, built the 3D vehicles and vehicle parts, and created the music. Michael Ely directed the Secret Project movies and cast the faction leaders. 25 volunteers participated in Firaxis' first public beta test. The beta testers suggested the Diplomatic and Economic victories and the Random Events.


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: The design team started with a very simple playable game. They strengthened the "fun" aspects and fixed or removed the unenjoyable ones, a process Sid Meier called "surrounding the fun". After the revision, they played it again, repeating the cycle of revision and play. Playing the game repeatedly and in-depth was a rule at Firaxis. In the single-player mode, the team tried extreme strategies to find any sure-fire paths to victory and to see how often a particular computer faction ends up at the bottom. The goal was a product of unprecedented depth, scope, longevity, and addictiveness, where the player is always challenged by the game to come up with new strategies with no all-powerful factions or unstoppable tactics. According to Reynolds, the process has been around since Sid Meier's early days at Microprose. At Firaxis, as iterations continue, they expand the group giving feedback, bringing in outside gamers with fresh perspectives. "Alpha Centauri" was the first Firaxis game with public beta testers.


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: Finally, Brian Reynolds discussed the use of the demo in the development process. Originally a marketing tool released prior to the game, they started getting feedback. They were able to incorporate many suggestions into the retail version. According to Brian Reynolds, they made improvement in the game's interface, added a couple of new features and fixed a few glitches. They also improved some rules, fine-tuned the game balance and improved the AI. Finally, he adds that they continued to add patches to enhance the game after the game was released.


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: In the months leading to the release of "Alpha Centauri", multimedia producer Michael Ely wrote the 35 weekly episodes of "Journey to Centauri" detailing the splintering of the U.N. mission to Alpha Centauri.


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: A month after "Alpha Centauri"s February 1999 release, the Firaxis team began work on the expansion pack, "Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire". "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") and several additional concepts and strategies. 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.


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: 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. The backstory evolved quickly, and the main conflict centered on the return of the original alien inhabitants. The idea of humans inadvertently caught up in an off-world civil war focused the story.


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: 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. He wanted to provide "builders" with the tools to construct an empire in the face of heated competition. The internet community provided "invaluable" feedback. The first "call for features" was posted around April 1999 and produced the Fletchette Defense System, Algorithmic Enhancement, and The Nethack Terminus.


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: 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. The team believed the "coolness" of the Progenitor aliens would determine the success or failure of "Alien Crossfire". They strove to make them feel significantly different to play, but still compatible with the existing game mechanics. 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". Chris Pine modified the AI to account for the additions. The team also used artwork, sound effects, music, and diplomatic text to set the aliens apart. Other than the aliens, the Pirates proved to be the toughest faction to balance because their ocean start gave them huge advantages.


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: Upon completion, the team felt that "Alien Crossfire" was somewhere between an expansion and a full-blown sequel. In the months leading to the release of "Alien Crossfire", multimedia producer Michael Ely wrote the 9 episodes of "Centauri: Arrival", introducing the "Alien Crossfire" factions. 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. In 2000, both "Alpha Centauri" and "Alien Crossfire" were ported to Classic Mac OS by Aspyr Media and to Linux by Loki Software.


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: "Alpha Centauri" received wide critical acclaim upon its release, with reviewers voicing respect for the game's pedigree, especially that of Reynolds and Meier. The video game review aggregator websites GameRankings and Metacritic, which collect data from numerous review websites, listed scores of 92% and 89%, respectively. The game was favorably compared to Reynold's previous title, "Civilization II", and Rawn Shah of IT World Canada praised the expansion for a "believable" plot. However, despite its critical reception, it sold the fewest copies of all the games in the "Civilization" series. It sold more than 100,000 copies in its first two months of release. This was followed by 50,000 copies in April, May and June. In the United States, "Alpha Centauri" was the tenth-best-selling computer game of 1999's first half. Its sales in that country alone reached 224,939 copies by the end of 1999, and rose to 281,115 units by September 2000.


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: The game showed well at the 1998 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). Walter Morbeck of GameSpot said that "Alpha Centauri" was "more than hi-tech physics and new ways to blow each other up", and that the game would feature realistic aliens. Terry Coleman of "Computer Gaming World" predicted that "Alpha Centauri" would be "another huge hit". OGR awarded it "Most Promising Strategy Game" and one of the top 25 games of E3 '98. In a vote of 27 journalists from 22 gaming magazine, "Alpha Centauri" won "Best Turn Based Strategy" of E3 Show Award. Aaron John Loeb, the Awards Committee Chairman, said "for those that understand the intricacies, the wonder, the glory of turn based 'culture building,' this is the game worth skipping class for."


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: "Alpha Centauri's" science fiction storyline received high praise; IGN considered the game an exception to PC sci-fi cliches, and "GamePro" compared the plot to the works of writers Stanley Kubrick and Isaac Asimov. J.C. Herz of "The New York Times" suggested that the game was a marriage of "SimCity" and Frank Herbert's "Dune". "GamePro"s Dan Morris said "As the single-player campaign builds to its final showdown, the ramifications of the final theoretical discoveries elevate Alpha Centauri from great strategy game to science-fiction epic." Game Revolution said, "The well crafted story, admirable science-fiction world, fully realized scenario, and quality core gameplay are sure to please." "Edge" praised the uniqueness of expression saying it was "the same kind of old-fashioned, consensual storytelling that once drew universes out of ASCII." The in-game writing and faction leaders were also well-received for their believability, especially the voice acting. GameSpot reviewer Denny Atkin called the factions and their abilities "Alpha Centauri"s "most impressive aspect". Greg Tito of The Escapist said, "the genius of the game is how it flawlessly blends its great writing with strategy elements."


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: "Alpha Centauri's" turn-based gameplay, including the technology trees and factional warfare, was commonly compared to "Civilization" and "Civilization II". The Adrenaline Vault's Pete Hines said, "While "Alpha Centauri" is the evolutionary off-spring to ["Civilization"] and ["Civilization II"], it is not ["Civilization II"] in space. Although the comparison is inevitable because of the lineage, it is still short-sighted." "Edge" in 2006 praised "Alpha Centauri's greater sophistications as a strategy game." IGN said "Alpha Centauri is a better game than Civilization II; it's deep, rich, rewarding, thought-provoking in almost every way." Game Revolution's reviewer was less magnanimous, saying "Alpha Centauri is at least as good a game as Civilization 2. But it is its great similarity that also does it the most detriment. Alpha Centauri simply does not do enough that is new; it just doesn't innovate enough to earn a higher grade." The ability to create custom units was praised, as was the depth of the tech tree. The artificial intelligence of computer-controlled factions, which featured adaptability and behavioral subtlety, was given mixed comments; some reviewers thought it was efficient and logical, while others found it confusing or erratic. "Edge" was disappointed in the game's diplomacy, finding "no more and no less than is expected from the genre" and unhappy with "the inability to sound out any real sense of relationship or rational discourse."


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: The game's graphics were widely acknowledged to be above average at the time of its release, but not revolutionary. Its maps and interface were


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: considered detailed and in accordance with a space theme, but the game was released with a limited color palette. The in-game cutscenes, particularly the full motion video that accompanied technological advances, were praised for their quality and innovation. "Alpha Centauri's" sound and music received similar comments; FiringSquad said "<nowiki>[The sound effect quality]</nowiki> sort of follows the same line as the unit graphics – not too splashy but enough to get the job done."


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: "Next Generation" reviewed the PC version of the game, rating it five stars out of five, and stated that "Sid Meier creates yet another masterpiece in this game that, at a glance, looks all too familiar."


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: "Alpha Centauri" has won several Game of the Year awards, including those from the "Denver Post" and the "Toronto Sun". It won the "Turn-based Strategy Game of the Year" award from GameSpot as well. The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences named "Alpha Centauri" the "Computer Strategy Game of the Year" (along with nominations for "Game of the Year" and "Outstanding Achievement in Interactive Design"), and in 2000, "Alpha Centauri" won the Origins Award for "Best Strategy Computer Game of 1999". The editors of "PC Gamer US" named "Alpha Centauri" their "Best Turn-Based Strategy Game" of 1999, and wrote that it "set a new standard for this venerable genre." "Alpha Centauri" has the distinction of receiving gaming magazine "PC Gamer"s highest score to date as of 2019 (98%), alongside Half-Life 2 and Crysis, surpassing "Civilization II"s score (97%). "Alien Crossfire" was a runner-up for "Computer Games Strategy Plus"s 1999 "Add-on of the Year" award, which ultimately went to "".


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: There have been no direct sequels beyond "Alien Crossfire", something that writer Greg Tito attributed to Reynolds leaving Firaxis in 2000 to form Big Huge Games. "Alien Crossfire" producer and lead designer Timothy Train also left Firaxis with Reynolds. However, a spiritual sequel, "", was announced by Firaxis in April 2014 and released on October 24, 2014; several of those that worked on "Alpha Centauri" helped to develop the new title. A review in "Polygon" noted however that while the new game has better graphics, its story fails to rival the original, a sentiment echoed by another review in "PC Gamer". Another in Endgadget noted "as a spiritual successor to "Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri", however, it's a cut-rate disappointment".


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: Many of the features introduced in "Alpha Centauri" were carried over into subsequent "Civilization" titles; upon its release, "Civilization III" was compared negatively to "Alpha Centauri", whose "Civilization" characteristics were reminiscent of faction bonuses and penalties. The government system in "Civilization IV" closely resembles "Alpha Centauri"s, and "Civilization V" includes a new victory condition: the completion of the 'Utopia project', which is reminiscent of the Ascent to Transcendence secret project.


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: According to "Edge" magazine, "Alpha Centauri" remained "highly regarded" in 2006. A decade after its release, Sold-Out Software and GOG.com re-released the game for online-download sales. "Escapist Magazine" reviewed the game in 2014, noting that ""Alpha Centauri" is still playable. It still has a unique flavor that is unlike anything else".


title: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

text: After the release of the expansion, multimedia producer Michael Ely wrote a trilogy of novels based on the game. Writer Steve Darnall and illustrator Rafael Kayanan also made a graphic novel entitled "Alpha Centauri: Power of the Mindworms". Steve Jackson Games published "GURPS Alpha Centauri", a sourcebook for the GURPS role-playing game set in the "Alpha Centauri" universe.


title: Jeju City

text: Jeju City (; ) is the capital of the Jeju Province in South Korea and the largest city on Jeju Island. The city is served by Jeju International Airport (IATA code CJU).


title: Jeju City

text: Located on an island off the Korean Peninsula, Jeju has mild, warm weather during much of the year. The city is a well-known resort, with prestigious hotels and public casino facilities. In 2011, 9.9 million passengers flew between the two cities of Seoul and Jeju, making the Gimpo–Jeju route the world's busiest passenger air route. Jeju welcomes over ten million visitors every year, mainly from the South Korean mainland, Japan, and China. The population of Jeju City is 486,306 people and 205,386 households (244,153 men and 242,153 women, February 2019). The population density is 470.03 (per square km, 2015).


title: Jeju City

text: The area of the city has played a central role in Jeju since before recorded history. The Samseonghyeol, holes from which the three ancestors of the Jeju people are said to have come, are located in downtown Jeju City.


title: Jeju City

text: The city has grown quite rapidly since the 1970s. Shin Jeju (), or "new Jeju", was created some decades ago, up the hill from the airport and houses many government buildings. The thatched roof buildings that were common throughout the city until the 1970s are gradually disappearing.


title: Jeju City

text: The city was separated from Bukjeju County in 1955. However, in 2005 Jeju Province voters approved a proposal to merge the city with Bukjeju County, also merging Seogwipo with Namjeju County to create two large cities directly administered by the province. That change was put into effect in July 2006.


title: Jeju City

text: In 2012 Sang-Oh Kim became mayor; he was formerly the Jeju regional president of National Agricultural Cooperative Federation.


title: Jeju City

text: Jeju City is the principal transportation center for Jeju Province. It is home to the island's sole airport, Jeju International Airport; the Jeju-Seoul route is the world's busiest airline route.


title: Jeju City

text: In addition, its port is the largest on the island, serving the great majority of passenger and cargo vessels that visit the island. It also stands at the center of the island's road network. To travel throughout the city and island, various buses are available. A bus ride from Jeju City to Seogwipo (the second largest city on the island) is typically an hour.


title: Jeju City

text: Due to its central position in transportation, Jeju City sees the main share of tourist traffic to the island. Many tourists arrive at the city through the port terminal or airport, stay in the tourist hotels of the Sinjeju neighborhood, and stay within the city to visit various Jeju tourist attractions. These include Dragon's Head Rock (Yongduam, ) along the coast; the Samseonghyeol, three holes in the downtown area; Hallasan National Park in the interior; the country's tallest mountain, Hallasan; and world's largest botanical garden, Bunjae Artpia.


title: Jeju City

text: The city also sells many oranges for which Jeju is famous. Jeju City is surrounded by orange and mandarin farms.


title: Jeju City

text: In its former boundaries, Jeju City was 19.3 kilometers from east to west, and 10.2 kilometers from north to south. To the north, it looks across the Korea Strait at the southern coast of South Jeolla Province. To the south, it meets Seogwipo at the top of Hallasan, the island's sole mountain.


title: Jeju City

text: Jeju City has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: "Cfa") with very warm summers and cool winters. In Holdridge classification, Jeju City has a warm temperate moist forest climate. Due to its location, Jeju City is one of the warmest cities in Korea. However, ocean effect snow brings winter precipitation such as snow showers with strong wind during the winter. Precipitation is significant throughout the year, but is much wetter in summer, with more than of rain falling in each month from June to September. The highest temperature ever recorded is on 25 July 1942 while the lowest temperature ever recorded is on 16 February 1977.


title: 1st Scout Ranger Regiment

text: The Scout Rangers, known officially as the First Scout Ranger Regiment, is a Philippine Army unit specializing in anti-guerrilla jungle warfare, raids, ambushes, close quarters combat, urban warfare and sabotage.


title: 1st Scout Ranger Regiment

text: The First Scout Ranger Regiment was formed on November 25, 1950, under the command of former AFP Vice Chief of Staff and Defense Secretary Rafael M. Ileto The unit was modelled after the Alamo Scouts and the US Army Rangers. The FSSR was created due to a growing need to counter the Hukbalahap guerrillas with a force trained in small unit actions. Initially known as the Scout Ranger Training Unit (SRTU), they were made up of 5 man teams, made up of one officer and 4 enlisted men. SRTU teams used deep penetration tactics to infiltrate Huk-held territory and take out their units. In 1954, the Army decided to combine all active SRTU units into the 1st Scout Ranger Regiment.


title: 1st Scout Ranger Regiment

text: The Scout Rangers participated in the December 1989 coup attempt against the administration of Corazon Aquino. Led by then Captain Danilo Lim, Major Abraham Purugganan and Lieutenant Colonel Rafael Galvez, some 2500 Rangers took over Makati in the most destructive coup attempt against the Aquino administration, which left hundreds of civilians and soldiers dead, and hundreds more injured.


title: 1st Scout Ranger Regiment

text: The Scout Rangers played a major role in capturing the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebel camp during the 2000 all-out war against the MILF.


title: 1st Scout Ranger Regiment

text: During the Battle of Marawi of 2017, Scout Rangers were the first elite units deployed with the 1st Infantry Division to neutralize the Islamic State-inspired groups the Maute and Abu Sayyaf and their leaders Isnilon Hapilon and the Maute brothers. During the battle, the Rangers incurred many casualties including a veteran Captain of the battle of Zamboanga city. A Scout Ranger is credited with killing Hapilon during the final stages of battle.