astronomy

Sid Meier's Starships

Sid Meier's Starships is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Sid Meier's Starships rather than just read about it. In short: Sid Meier's Starships is a turn-based strategy video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K. It was released on March 12, 2015, for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and iOS.

Key takeaways

Sid Meier's Starships belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Sid Meier's Starships to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Sid Meier's Starships from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Sid Meier's Starships is a turn-based strategy video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K. It was released on March 12, 2015, for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and iOS. The game is a stand-alone title but shares the same universe as Civilization: Beyond Earth, putting the player in control of a fleet of space-faring craft. The player will use the fleet to explore the galaxy, meeting other human and alien forces, and dealing with problems through a combination of military, diplomatic, and other strategic options. Spacecraft in the fleet can be highly customized for meeting certain goals. The game features cross-connectivity features with Beyond Earth for those that own both titles. Starships was based on Sid Meier's idea of extending the Beyond Earth setting, in which the player guides the development of one of several human colonies on an alien world, and he considers it a further narrative of that game, exploring the universe and encountering other human colonies and threats it may hold. In his concept, Meier wanted to focus on starship creation, including highly configurable ships, and space combat, while providing the player with "a universe filled with interstellar adventure, diplomacy, and exploration". The game was developed by Meier and a small team at Firaxis.

Reception

The iOS version received "generally favorable reviews", while the PC version received "mixed" reviews, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. IGN said of the same PC version, "Sid Meier's Starships produces a few good tactical battles before its AI loses steam and its strategy gets frustrating." The Escapist gave the PC version a score of four stars out of five, saying that it "lacks the strategic depth of Civilization, but the added tactical layer, and shorter game times make it a fair substitute, especially if you're looking for bite-sized strategy." National Post gave it a similar score of eight out of ten, saying that the game "may lack the complexity and nuance of other strategy games, and it feels a bit rough around the edges in places, but its accessibility, terrific turn-based combat, and bite-sized duration combine to create a tempting alternative to a multi-evening marathon campaign." Metro gave it a score of seven out of ten, saying, "Fast-paced and accessible are not words commonly used to describe turn-based strategy games, but Sid Meier's latest is a fun, breezy strategic time killer." GameSpot gave the PC version four stars out of ten, saying "it's a strategy game without strategy, enabling you to sleepwalk your way to triumph."

References

External links Sid Meier's video interview with French newspaper Le Point, about Starships and other games, in English after the 20-seconds intro (February 25, 2015). (in French) Sid Meier's Starships at MobyGames

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Sid Meier's Starships

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Sid Meier's Starships claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Sid Meier's Starships before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Sid Meier's Starships ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Sid Meier's Starships

In research: Sid Meier's Starships appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Sid Meier's Starships in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Sid Meier's Starships is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2015 video games, 2K games, Fiction about interstellar and intergalactic travel, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Sid Meier's Starships outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Sid Meier's Starships in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Sid Meier's Starships means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Sid Meier's Starships out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sid Meier's Starships in simple terms?

Sid Meier's Starships is a turn-based strategy video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K. It was released on March 12, 2015, for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and iOS.

Why does Sid Meier's Starships matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Sid Meier's Starships?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Sid Meier's Starships.