Best/Worst SP Video

Wiglaf · July 18, 2001, 20:59

What's your favorite/least favorite SP quick flick? I like the Longetivity Vaccine and its format . Pretty fast one, but it makes up for it with a little humor. The quote's a tad on the bad side, IMO. The worst one to me, as far as I can remember, is probably the Citizen's Defense Force... nothing overly good about it and I don't like the art. Seemed rushed.

What's your take?

Scipio Centaurus · July 19, 2001, 00:25

Quote:

Originally posted by SMACed
What's your favorite/least favorite SP quick flick? ... The worst one to me, as far as I can remember, is probably the Citizen's Defense Force... nothing overly good about it and I don't like the art. Seemed rushed. What's your take?

The artist probably had to get out of there in a hurry, because the defenders weren't going to be able to hold back the mindworms...

Kirnwaffen · July 19, 2001, 01:12

My favorite is (yes, I know I'm probably being cliche) the Hunter Seeker Algorithm, with Nano Factory and Living refinery being close seconds. My least favorite is probably The Virtual World. I don't know why, that's just the way it is. I actually like the CDF video. I think the art is very appropriate for the voiceover, which I also thought was pretty cool.

RedFred · July 19, 2001, 02:30

My least favourite is the Vats. It seems sort of two dimentional in spots. And the poor guy who has to sort all the chicks all day to split up the future hens from roosters...what a tedious job.

My favourite might just be the Manifold Harmonics or the Nethack. Those two are easily the SPs I have completed the least often, so their main merit is that I don't have either one memorized.

Vlad Antlerkov · July 19, 2001, 07:16

My fave is, of course, the Longevity Vaccine video

I like the Voice of Planet video, as well. And that Cloning Vats video... disturbs... me every time I watch it. I like the Dream Twister video, as well

Earwicker · July 19, 2001, 10:12

I have taken to playing with the SP movies off, but will turn them back on the the construction of Dream Twister, Self-Aware Colony, Cloning Vats, and HSA. Close seconds on the "favorites" list is Cloudbase Academy, Space Elevator, and Bulk Matter Transmitter for good animation.

Least faves are Planetary Datalinks, Neural Amplifier. Many of the "planet" ones, like the Pholus Mutagen and Weather Paradigm, I thought could've been better at capturing the sense of an alien world.

death_head · July 19, 2001, 10:37

Believe it or not, I've always been a big fan of the Weather Paradigm...that and the Transcendence movie.

Wiglaf · July 19, 2001, 10:41

Now that I think about it, the Cloudbase movie is actually pretty good. I can't remember its quote (and I just watched it...

), but I was still really impressed with it.

Looks like the opinions are pretty varied. That's probably a good sign, Firaxis spent a lot of work on each of them.

death_head · July 19, 2001, 11:34

I think Firaxis needs to make a full-length movie about Alpha Centauri, completely done in Computer Graphics.

Wiglaf · July 19, 2001, 12:03

That'd be neat. I don't think they can, though, because they are a fairly small company making some pretty big titles at the moment. Busy people.

They'd have to sell the rights, and given the fact that there are a ton of game to movie productions, Alpha Centauri might not stand out. On top of that, making a plot with a game like SMAC could be difficult.

Anything's possible, though

Clear Skies · July 19, 2001, 12:43

I think the best SP videos are the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm, the Empath Guild and the Cloudbase Academy. The Neural Amplifier and the Command Nexus aren't bad either.

The ones I don't like are the Dream Twister (waaay too freakish), the Self-Aware Colony (I hate the idea but can see it happening all too soon) and the Space Elevator - dull!

Lefty Scaevola · July 19, 2001, 13:24

My favorite is the Cloudbase Academy.

My least is the Xenoempathy Dome with is just the portrait of Dedrie with a rather dull speech. But, if that had ben a full body nude portrait, ...

Wiglaf · July 19, 2001, 13:43

Quote:

think the best SP videos are the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm, the Empath Guild and the Cloudbase Academy. The Neural Amplifier and the Command Nexus aren't bad either.

The ones I don't like are the Dream Twister (waaay too freakish), the Self-Aware Colony (I hate the idea but can see it happening all too soon) and the Space Elevator - dull!

The empath guild was mostly portraits to me. As for the dream twister, yeah, that is probably the weirdest thing I've seen in a computer game. The space elevator and SA colony are pretty neat, IMO.

And Lefty, the Dome is more than just a picture of Deidre's head, it's also got a lot of little fungus things. And you play just a bit too much

Cybergod · July 19, 2001, 14:02

The SP movie I like, and apeals to my 'peaceful' (if I was peaceful, why am I even playing SMAC?) ideology, is the Planetary Datalinks. Maybe also because it realy apeals to the real world.

The worst SP video, pour moi, is when someone builds the Ascend to Transcendance before you. Partly because THAT pisses me off

Lefty Scaevola · July 19, 2001, 14:15

Quote:

Originally posted by SMACed

And you play just a bit too much

oxymoron.

Wiglaf · July 19, 2001, 14:48

The Datalinks are good, but nothing compared to Morgan's interview...

And Lefty, I never, ever, contradict myself.

Kassiopeia · July 19, 2001, 16:49

1. Cloudbase Academy
2. Network Backbone (Check the project data and the quote and you'll think of a certain eye-glassed man who's first name is Bill

)
3. The Cyborg Factory (I just love the quote)

The Dream Twister and the Neural Amplifier are almost disgusting. And the 'man' in the Vats video is a very fat woman.

death_head · July 19, 2001, 17:29

The good movie based on a game was Mortal Kombat: Annihililation, because of all the interaction and storylines between the different characters. A SMAC movie would be kind of like that, because there are so many possibilities with the factions and the planet...

moomin · July 20, 2001, 09:09

My up and away favorite is the ME, which
I think is one of the few vids with a proper
SFnal feeling to it. I usually build it, look
at the movie and then turn the movies
off.

Least favorite: all the psych wonders.
"Oh my, can we provide gross out shock
value or can we?"

Sparky · July 20, 2001, 13:47

The weird part is that those videos largely come from a movie. It was an art flick around 1993 called mandula or something. I saw the original in theaters -- there's no way that those chicks and the freaky buddhist monks and the sped-up weather effects (from the weather project) could be from anything else. I have not seen the film in the game credits, though.

Any body else know what I am referring to?

Wiglaf · July 20, 2001, 15:23

Nope. Don't remember a movie like that, although I do miss a lot. Some of the effects aren't really straight from any one movie; IIRC the sped up weather is pretty common. Aw, what do I know..

Avenoct · July 20, 2001, 16:17

The Self Aware Colony. It's freaky, but tight..the timing with the voice-over is very nice.
I HATE the CDF movie! It scares the piss out of me. That kind of animation-drawing has always gotten to me. Well, I like that it's in the game, and for me, it's certainly effective...but that whole SP is nonsensical in terms of what it does in the game...but that's another topic.

Overall, the SP movies are just amazing. I can't believe anyone had the time to make them and include them in a little old computer game. Imagine one of them as a TV commercial! They are easily good enough, heh, and the Nielsen ratings would show a bunch of suicides and murders I think...ouch, better not do that. The project I really don't like aesthetically is the Planetary Transit System, or similarly, the Datalinks. They are Cheezy...I think it's a mistake to try to effectively refer back to Earth, in the future. But that's just me. Couldn't resist commenting as I really do like the SP movies.

-Smack

The Commodore · July 20, 2001, 17:34

I love the SP movies, but not the PSI ones...wet my pants first time on the Dream Twister.

Anywho, my top five would be:
Cloudbase Acadamy
MCC
LR
Bulk Matter Transmitter.
ME

corb01772 · July 20, 2001, 17:45

I've found the Morgan based SP's to be hilarious. Always doin backflips and saying random things.

"Of course we'll bundle our MorganNet software with the new network nodes" Hmm, inspired by Internet Explorer being bundled with Windows maybe?

"I plan to live forever, of course, but barring that I'd settle for a couple thousand years. Even five hundred would be pretty nice."

What a nut.

michael_ely · July 20, 2001, 17:48

sparky:

The movie you're thinking of is called Baraka. It's very cool and I'd recommend anyone seeing it...it's kind of like one long mystical music video.

Anyway, the filmmaker allowed his footage to be licensed, so we used some of it for some of the movies (we didn't have enough time to do computer animation for every SP).

Lefty Scaevola · July 20, 2001, 17:52

Why are several of you such pansies about the neural amplifier and dream twister movies? They would not have scared me when I was child (But then, I had seen real rattlesnakes and tarantulas when a child). Some of you guys must be real screams at haunted houses.

death_head · July 20, 2001, 17:58

Nerds with no social life grow up to play SMAC

...guess they didn't get out much..

Wiglaf · July 20, 2001, 19:01

Quote:

"I plan to live forever, of course, but barring that I'd settle for a couple thousand years. Even five hundred would be pretty nice."

What a nut.

Lefty, I don't care what you say, that movie is freaky. Turn the lights out, look at the eyes, and just see if you don't flinch.

And death head, whatcha mean? Playing computer games makes ya a nerd?

The Commodore · July 20, 2001, 19:23

I don't care for being called a nerd. Like it or not, nerds are taking over the world. Anyway, it was at night, I'd just finished a session of "Silent Hill", and my poor bladder couldn't take it anymore.

Anyone been to the AlienTerror thing at Disney, BTW...I loved that.

Ken Hinds · July 20, 2001, 20:26

Quote:

Originally posted by SMACed
making a plot with a game like SMAC could be difficult.

Large Grossing movies need a plot? Gee, I thought that Hollywood had done away with that requirement since it is sooo restricting on the creativity of the artists and directors.

I don't see enough of the SP movies to have an opinion yet.

Ken