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Old April 21, 2000, 11:26   #1
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Using blurbs to reconstruct the official SMAC story
ok we have that nice long set of blurbs if you read the blurbs carefully you find out a few things...
[*]the Spartan Federation gets destroyed[*]the UoP builds the voice of planet[*]the Gaians win the game by transcendence

so in your opinion when a specific faction is credited to the blurb do you think that they were the first to build a facility, utilize a tech nology or build a secret project? Is that a valid argument to make? Because that is what i am assuming...

So using that definition we get the following scenario in terms of secret projects...
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Old April 21, 2000, 11:27   #2
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Gaians

The Weather Paradigm
quote:

I shall not confront Planet as an enemy, but shall accept
its mysteries as gifts to be cherished. Nor shall I crudely
seek to peel the layers away like the skin from an onion.
Instead I shall gather them together as the tree gathers the
breeze. The wind shall blow and I shall bend. The sky shall
open and I shall drink my fill.
^
^ -- Gaian Acolyte's Prayer


The Empath Guild
quote:

Symbols are the key to telepathy. The mind wraps its
secrets in symbols; when we discover the symbols that shape
our enemy's thought, we can penetrate the vault of his mind.
^
^ -- Lady Deirdre Skye,
^ "Our Secret War"


The Citizens' Defense Force
quote:

As the writhing, teeming mass of Mind Worms swarmed over the outer
perimeter, we saw the defenders recoil in horror. "Stay calm! Use
your flame guns!" shouted the commander, but to no avail. It is well
known that the Mind Worm Boil uses psychic terror to paralyze its
prey, and then carefully implants ravenous larvae in the brains of
its still-conscious victims. Even with the best weapons, only the
most disciplined troops can resist this horrific attack.
^
^ -- Lady Deirdre Skye,
^ "Our Secret War"


The Xenoempathy Dome
quote:

I believe Planet will talk to us if we are willing
to listen. These fungal stalks behave as multistate relays:
taken together, the neural net connectivity must be staggering.
Can a planet be said to have achieved sentience?
^
^ -- Lady Deirdre Skye,
^ Arguments in Council


The Pholus Mutagen
quote:

^ We welcome you, earthdeirdre and earthwheat and earthtree as
^ honored guests, for you add great power to our ancient song--
^ planetfungus and planetworm and planetmind sing and play
^ here, and you are welcome among us.
^
^ -- Lady Deirdre Skye,
^ "Conversations with Planet"


The Telepathic Matrix
quote:

^ From the delicate strands,
^ between minds we weave our mesh:
^ a blanket to warm the soul.
^
^ -- Lady Deirdre Skye,
^ "The Collected Poems"


Ascent to Transcendence
quote:

No longer mere earthbeings and planetbeings are we, but bright
children of the stars! And together we shall dance in and out
of ten billion years, celebrating the gift of consciousness until
the stars themselves grow cold and weary, and our thoughts turn
again to the beginning.
^
^ -- Lady Deirdre Skye,
^ "Conversations with Planet"
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Old April 21, 2000, 11:31   #3
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The Hive

The Virtual World
quote:

What do I care for your suffering? Pain, even agony, is no
more than information before the senses, data fed to the
computer of the mind. The lesson is simple: you have received
the information, now act on it. Take control of the input and
you shall become master of the output.
^
^ -- Chairman Sheng-ji Yang,
^ "Essays on Mind and Matter"


The Ascetic Virtues
quote:

Learn to overcome the crass demands of flesh and bone, for they
warp the matrix through which we perceive the world. Extend your
awareness outward, beyond the self of body, to embrace the self
of group and the self of humanity. The goals of the group and the
greater race are transcendent, and to embrace them is to achieve
enlightenment.
^
^ -- Chairman Sheng-ji Yang,
^ "Essays on Mind and Matter"

[This message has been edited by korn469 (edited April 21, 2000).]
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Old April 21, 2000, 11:36   #4
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The UoP

The Human Genome Project
quote:

To map the very stuff of life; to look into the
genetic mirror and watch a million generations
march past. That, friends, is both our curse and
our proudest achievement. For it is in reaching to our
beginnings that we begin to learn who we truly are.
^
^ -- Academician Prokhor Zakharov,
^ "Address to the Faculty"


The Space Elevator
quote:

In one moment, Earth; in the next, Heaven.
^
^ -- Academician Prokhor Zakharov,
^ "For I Have Tasted The Fruit"


The Singularity Inductor
quote:

What actually transpires beneath the veil of an event horizon?
Decent people shouldn't think too much about that.
^
^ -- Academician Prokhor Zakharov,
^ "For I Have Tasted The Fruit"


The Voice of Planet
quote:

Imagine the entire contents of the planetary datalinks, the sum total
of human knowledge, blasted into the Planetmind's fragile neural
network with the full power of every reactor on the planet. Thousands
of years of civilization compressed into a single searing burst of
revelation. That is our last-ditch attempt to win humanity a reprieve
from extinction at the hands of an awakening alien god.
^
^ -- Academician Prokhor Zakharov,
^ "Planet Speaks

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Old April 21, 2000, 11:40   #5
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Morgan

The Merchant Exchange
quote:

Human behavior is economic behavior. The particulars may vary,
but competition for limited resources remains a constant. Need
as well as greed have followed us to the stars, and the rewards
of wealth still await those wise enough to recognize this deep
thrumming of our common pulse.
^
^ -- CEO Nwabudike Morgan,
^ "The Centauri Monopoly"


The Longevity Vaccine
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.
^
^ -- CEO Nwabudike Morgan,
^ MorganLink 3DVision Interview


The Network Backbone
quote:

Of course we'll bundle our MorganNet software with the new
network nodes; our customers expect no less of us. We have never
sought to become a monopoly. Our products are simply so good that
no one feels the need to compete with us.
^
^ -- CEO Nwabudike Morgan,
^ Morgan Data Systems press release


The Living Refinery
quote:

We estimate that during the next mission century most of
Planet's industries will be moved off-planet to Nessus Prime and
other orbital facilities. Many of our industries will benefit
greatly from the low gravity environments available in space,
particularly those involving genetically engineered microbes.
^
^ -- CEO Nwabudike Morgan,
^ "The Centauri Monopoly"
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Old April 21, 2000, 11:44   #6
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Spartans

The Command Nexus
quote:

Information, the first principle of warfare, must form the
foundation of all your efforts. Know, of course, thine enemy.
But in knowing him do not forget above all to know thyself.
The commander who embraces this totality of battle shall win
even with the inferior force.
^
^ -- Spartan Battle Manual


The Neural Amplifier
quote:

Against such abominations, we organize our defenses on the
principle that one strong and able mind can shield the many.
^
^ -- Spartan Battle Manual


Maritime Control Center
quote:

It is altogether fitting that we who have sailed the deeps of
space now return again to the sea. This is in many ways a water
planet, and it can be ruled from the waves. With sea power, rugged
terrain can be bypassed and enemy strongholds isolated. Once
naval superiority is achieved, Planet is ours for the taking.
^
^ -- Col. Corazon Santiago,
^ "Planet: A Survivalist's Guide"


The Cyborg Factory
quote:

^ A handsome young Cyborg named Ace,
^ Wooed women at every base,
^ But once ladies glanced at
^ His special enhancement
^ They vanished with nary a trace.
^
^ -- Barracks Graffiti,
^ Sparta Command


The Dream Twister
quote:

^ Mary had a little lamb,
^ Little lamb little lamb,
^ Mary had a little lamb,
^ whose fleece was white as snow.
^
^ -- Assassins' Redoubt,
^ Final Transmission


The Nano Factory
quote:

Industrial Grade Nano-Paste, Planet's most valuable commodity, can also
be one of its most dangerous. Simply pour out several canisters, slide
in a programming transponder, and step well away while the stuff cooks.
In under an hour the nano will use available materials to assemble a
small factory, a hovertank, or enough impact rifles to equip a regiment.
^
^ -- Col. Corazon Santiago,
^ "Planet: A Survivalist's Guide"


The Cloning Vats
quote:

We shall take only the greatest minds, the finest soldiers,
the most faithful servants. We shall multiply them a thousandfold
and release them to usher in a new era of glory.
^
^ -- Col. Corazon Santiago,
^ "The Council of War"
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Old April 21, 2000, 11:48   #7
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The Believers

The Planetary Transit System
quote:

As distances vanish and the people can flow freely from place
to place, society will cross a psychological specific heat
boundary and enter a new state. No longer a solid or liquid,
we have become as a vapor and will expand to fill all available
space. And like a gas, we shall not be easily contained.
^
^ -- Sister Miriam Godwinson,
^ "But for the Grace of God"


The Universal Translator
quote:

And the Lord said, "Behold, the people is one, and
they have all one language; and this they begin to do:
and now nothing will be restrained from them, which
they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and
there confound their language, that they may not
understand one another's speech."
^
^ -- The Conclave Bible,
^ Datalinks


The Self-Aware Colony
quote:

Will we next create false gods to rule over us? How proud
we have become, and how blind.
^
^ -- Sister Miriam Godwinson,
^ "We Must Dissent"


Clinical Immortality
quote:

And the Lord God said, "Behold, the man is become as
one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth
his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and
live forever, we must send him forth." Therefore the
Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till
the ground from whence he was taken.
^
^ -- The Conclave Bible,
^ Datalinks


The Bulk Matter Transmitter
quote:

And what of the immortal soul in such transactions? Can this
machine transmit and reattach it as well? Or is it lost forever,
leaving a soulless body to wander the world in despair?
^
^ -- Sister Miriam Godwinson,
^ "We Must Dissent"
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Old April 21, 2000, 11:50   #8
korn469
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The U.N.

The Planetary Datalinks
quote:

As the Americans learned so painfully in Earth's final century,
free flow of information is the only safeguard against tyranny.
The once-chained people whose leaders at last lose their grip on
information flow will soon burst with freedom and vitality, but
the free nation gradually constricting its grip on public discourse
has begun its rapid slide into despotism. Beware of he who would
deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself
your master.
^
^ -- Commissioner Pravin Lal,
^ "U.N. Declaration of Rights"
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Old April 21, 2000, 16:08   #9
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Heyas,
Nice work, I've been wondering about this too.

A couple of comments: I read the quote on the Self-Aware Colony as meaning that someone else got it, and Miriam disapproves (doesn't she always?). And I read the quote on Lab 3 as being a University experiment into mindworms that had a disaster all on its own, without any interference from the Gaians - the Gaians are only mentioned because it's not like any other faction is going to disagree with exterminating mindworms.

We also know that the Hive seems to have invented Genejacks (Genejack factory blurb "My gift to industry is the genetically engineered worker, or Genejack." - Chairman Yang, "Essays on Mind and Matter"), and that the UoP seems to have researched it later (!) (other factions' "Genetic Inspectors" are investigating the UoP in a way reminiscent of the UN investigating Iraq in the Retroviral Engineering blurb).

It's fun to speculate on this. (On a humorous note, Miriam speaks the blurb for Information Networks...).

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Old April 21, 2000, 19:39   #10
BustaMike
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Good stuff; however, I have one disagreement. The Spartans did not build the Dream Twister. Assassins' Redoubt was conquered by someone (most likely the Gaians) using the Dream Twister. They went insane because someone was using it on them. That's my theory anyway.


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Old April 22, 2000, 00:05   #11
korn469
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these secret projects did not have a faction leader to go with them but i will give my best guess

The Supercollider
quote:

^ God does not play dice.
^
^ -- Albert Einstein, Datalinks


Diedra reads the quote for this one so it is very likely that the Gaians built this one

The Hunter-Seeker Algorithm
quote:

If I determine the enemy's disposition of forces while I have
no perceptible form, I can concentrate my forces while the enemy
is fragmented. The pinnacle of military deployment approaches the
formless: if it is formless, then even the deepest spy cannot
discern it nor the wise make plans against it.
^
^ -- Sun Tzu,
^ "The Art of War", Datalinks


that is the guy who reads all of the quotes for the morgan faction when they are not by Morgan himself...so it is most likely that morgan built the HSA

The Theory of Everything
quote:

The Earth is the cradle of the mind, but one cannot stay in the
cradle forever.
^
^ -- Konstantin Tsiolkovsky,
^ The Father of Rocketry, Datalinks


ok that is zak reading the quote so i would say most likely the UoP built this one
[This message has been edited by korn469 (edited April 21, 2000).]
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Old April 22, 2000, 00:16   #12
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ok here is the last thing to leave you with for now...

Gaian's and transcendence

Transcendent Thought
quote:

^ Eternity lies ahead of us, and behind.
^ Have you drunk your fill?
^
^ -- Lady Deirdre Skye,
^ "Conversations with Planet", Epilogue


epilogue implies that she is writing this after the Gaians have achieved transcendence

The Dream Twister
quote:

^ Mary had a little lamb,
^ Little lamb little lamb,
^ Mary had a little lamb,
^ whose fleece was white as snow.
^
^ -- Assassins' Redoubt,
^ Final Transmission


final transmission is obvious...it didn't transmit anything else ever, so obviously it was destroyed, two other things to consider assassins redoubt implies that it is some kind of fortress for spartan covert activities, and the quote from mary had a little lamb could only mean two things...either they went insane and destroyed themselves or it was some kind of code

Tachyon Field
quote:

The klaxon began to wail, but we felt the reassuring tingle of
the Tachyon Field crackling to life around us, encasing the
entire base in its impenetrable glow.
^
^ -- Spartan Kel,
^ "The Fall of Sparta"


well it came from a book called the fall of Sparta so that speaks for itself and it leads us to the next quote

Headquarters
quote:

As we approached we were confronted by the ruined splendor of
Sparta Command. The true immensity of the place became instantly
apparent as our Quantum Tank crunched over the rubble and parked next
to a shattered bunker, but the extent of the destruction
took weeks to assess. The shielded datacore had sustained several
massive breaches and smoke still billowed from the numerous cannon
ports. There were few signs of human life.
^
^ -- Lady Deirdre Skye,
^ "Our Secret War"


obviously Sparta Command was destroyed...the most likely candidate is the gaians

also the Gaian's and the UoP are at war and apparently the Gaians destroyed Lab three

Temple of Planet
quote:

Let the Gaians preach their silly religion, but one way or the other
I shall see this compound burned, seared, and sterilized until every
hiding place is found and until every last Mind Worm egg, every last
slimy one, has been cooked to a smoking husk. That species shall be
exterminated, I tell you! Exterminated!
^
^ -- Academician Prokhor Zakharov,
^ Lab Three aftermath

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Old April 22, 2000, 00:59   #13
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I first thought The Bulk Matter Transmitter would have been UoP given it's non-mystical nature, but the quote from the Psi Gate (which becomes available with the same tech) is also spoken by Miriam

Psi Gate

Go through, my children! The time of miracles is upon us. Let
us cast off sin and walk together to the Garden of the Lord.
With God's mercy we shall meet again on the other side.
^
^ -- Sister Miriam Godwinson,
^ "Last Testament"
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Old April 22, 2000, 05:44   #14
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How about the SMACX blurbs?
Obviously, the Drones built the Cloudbase Academy. Cha Dawn built the Planetary Energy Grid. The Nethack Terminus by the Data Angels. The Manifold harmonics by Hminee.
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Old April 24, 2000, 23:32   #15
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It has been quite a while since I have listened to all of the quotes in a game because my sound does not work very well, not to mention the sound stutters horribly when it does work.

Korn-

I agree with you the the Spartans did die, that seems quite logical. Also note several minor details that are not exactly in the game, the default faction when you do a quick start before starting any games is the Gaians, and the Brian and Sid factions both are essentially the Gaians. It is obvious that the bigwig Firaxians have a hankering for our favorite Greenie, since they are the ones who originally wrote the "official" plot doesn't it make sense that it would be Deidre that transcends in the end?

I have a faint suscpicion that Miriam did an invasion near the end of the game, perhaps on Zack, perhaps not. She gets quite upset- rather preachy- near the end of the game about high technology. In the Psi gate quote it seems that she is launching an invasion with one against the foul technology users of the University.

Speaking of the UoP I disagree that the Gaians fought them, the Temple of Planet quote implies that Zack tried to eradicate native life with disastorous results, NOT that she attacked him! The silly religion part is a loving poke- not related to a war between the two of them.

I can not remember the quote, but I *know* I heard Morgan make a quote somewhere that goes something like this-

"When all the cards are down, he who controls the flow of energy is the one who is in power. In the past this was called the power company. We intend to give this a whole new meaning"
CEO Nwabudike Morgan
The Centauri Monopoly


I take it from this quote that Morgan was in the process of cornering the global E market- if/when Deidre transcended. I did not notice many quotes at all with either the PK or the Hive in the late game... are we to take that their empires faded?
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Old April 25, 2000, 01:28   #16
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Enigma

you had in mind exactly what i was thinking!

i need some help but we need information on exactly when a faction gets mentioned for the last time

the gaians - transcendent thought
the hive - monopole magnets?
UoP - voice of planet
morgan - singularity mechanics?
spartans - Tachyon Field?
believers - controlled singularity
pk - fusion power?

i now see that Zak was attacking the mindworms and not the gaians

bustamike i am not sure that your theory on the dream twister but it is interesting and certainly a possibility...if it wasn't the spartans who built it then most likely it was the gaians

so apparently the hive and the U.N. were both on the decline by mid game and faded into obscurity while the spartans were building a powerful army...then the gaians erradicated the spartans...though i do not see how, especially if the spartans had the cloning vats, the cyborg factory, the command nexus, the nano factory, and the neural amplifier...

possibly planet destroyed the spartans...

two quotes

quote:

That is our last-ditch attempt to win humanity a reprieve
from extinction at the hands of an awakening alien god.

As we approached we were confronted by the ruined splendor of
Sparta Command. The true immensity of the place became instantly


ok human kind is about to be destroyed by Planet, which had just destroyed Sparta Command and most of the Spartan Federation...that is what zak is talking about when he says saving mankind from extinction

also when the gaians say that they approached Sparta Command it doesn't sound like they fought their way in...also i don't remember any quotes about the spartans saying they were at war with the gaians

so my best guess is that late game planet went crazy (like in SMAC 1.0) and wiped the spartans off the map...the spartans had the cloning vats so they had lots of large cities probably creating tons of eco damage and then planet destroyed them...

later the UoP to save themselves built the voice of planet while morgan was getting ready to corner the global market...then the gaians transcended while miriam attack the UoP

enigma where did you find that quote about morgan talking about the power company? i'd LOVE to hear it...i can't remember ever hearing it before

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Old April 25, 2000, 19:05   #17
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What about the SMACX blurbs? I just want to know what they are. So just put them in my post called, SMACX Blurbs becaus I just want to know what they are.

------------------
And I asked him,
What is thy name?
And he replied saying:
My Name is iMac: for we
are many..
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Old April 25, 2000, 22:41   #18
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quote:

And when at last it is time for the transition from entrepreneur to emperor, it is then that the true genius of our strategy shall become apparent, for energy is the lifeblood of this society and when the chips are down he who controls the energy supply controls Planet. In former times the energy monopoly was called "The Power Company"; we intend to give this name an entirely new meaning.
CEO Nwabudike Morgan
"The Centauri Monopoly"

(Blurb for the Quantum Converter)
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Old April 27, 2000, 00:55   #19
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I don't think that the Hive got pushed into obscurity, rather, they just didn't do much... the faction stuff says the Hive is isolationist, maybe they just left everyone alone, maybe?
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Old April 27, 2000, 08:28   #20
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It strikes me that at the beginning they were fairly equal, but the university and gaians pulled ahead. Miriam started to make good leaps around the time of nanotech, along with Morgan who pulled close (seemed to have a lot of stuff then, Digital Sentience, Self-Aware Machines). But I have a hunch of advances on the side up to Will to Power, and the appropriate asceticism where down to Yang (formulation of Thought Control?) If Assasin's Redoubt collapsed, as well as the stuff postulated on by the Spartans, could the Spartans have been crushed by many sides at once, maybe an alliance between the Gaians and Hive? Brother Lal does come in as late as Centauri Psi, so I'm sure he isn't destroyed and somewhere up there, but never quite outstanding.

Miriam seems to have a burst of stuff, but whether this is just a hatred of other factions technology she has observed (eg, Uni) is unknown. In late game, however, Univ, Gaians and Morgan are dominant. But Univ did get to the first transcendent thought first, I'm sure (had Temporal Mechanics and Controlled Singularity first), just by sheer gap. Hence the voice of planet. But Deirdre must have pipped them at the post with the construction of 'Ascent to Transcendence', but just used the quote from transcendence for the transcendent thought tech. I think University was probably dominant, followed by Morgan (in tech and energy sense, respectively). But the Gaians sneeked in first with transcendence, despite them not necessarily having the technology Threshold of Transcendence.

Well, that's my hypothesis.
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Old April 28, 2000, 01:33   #21
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And Morgan was about to corner the Market. Thanks for the exact quote Basil that is my favorite quote in the game but I normally skip most of them.. plus my sound has not been working in a long time. This quote is one of the most obvious ones in the game! Morgan clearly was about to corner the market.

There are quite a few quotes near the end by philosophers and the like.. I wonder how the factions were involved in those? And what is the Centauri Psi quote? I remember Lal being in the MMI quote (makes sense for diplo victory) but after that everything is rather foggy.

It really fits well that the Spartans were destroyed by planet, what with the cloning vats and all.

I remember bits and pieces of the Tachyon field quote.. but not the quoter.

Of course they really were not considering real life situations when they made this story. The thought of the Spartans making the cloning vats (under AI control) is laughable. Although that would be a dramatic ending, 3 years before Morgan corners the market Zack builds the voice.. then Deidre finishes the Ascent

It is rather interesting that Miriam has quotes in the end. Personally the way I view her quotes is her standing on a pulpit encouraging masses of people to go into a blood frenzy to kill the University(?) infidels. She builds a psi gate and sends in troops through that to invade the UoP.

It is more difficult to envision the plot since diplomacy is not mentioned in quotes. Only example is the retro viral engineering quote..

If we ever really get stumped we could just ask Firaxis
[This message has been edited by Enigma (edited April 28, 2000).]
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Old April 28, 2000, 03:52   #22
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Remember the network node blurb:

^I don't know but I've been told,
^ Deirdre's got a Network Node.
^Likes to press the on-off switch,
^ Dig that crazy Gaian witch!
^
^ -- Spartan Barracks March

The Spartans were probably at war with the Gaians and were mocking Deidre.
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Old May 5, 2000, 01:01   #23
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*bump*

Anyone have anything to add to this thread? I thought it was kind of interesting...
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Old May 5, 2000, 03:24   #24
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Sure, why not?

I think some of the work that has been done to reconstruct the 'official story' is really great, and goes much further than anything I have imagined.

However...I think there is a certain point where the flavor texts get overanalyzed.

Remember that those quotes are, apart from the vaguely defined ideologies, the most important way for us to get to know the characters of the faction leaders better.
So I think that, in some cases, Firaxis simply used the SP quotes as a tool to flesh out the personalities, while still having something cool to say that's related to a specific SP. I don't think that means that the SP was built by a faction, merely because the faction leader said the quote.

SP's where I think that's true:

Weather paradigm: Does that quote really mean that the Gaians 'built/discovered' a paradigm which lets them terraform better? Or is it simply a form of ideology being spouted off here that works well with the SP?

Citizen's Defense: Interestingly enough, it doesn't work in psi-battle, does it? But it sounds like part of a story, true enough.

Telepathy Matrix: No real evidence the Gaians built that. Maybe, since they're always described as the most 'empathic' and 'understanding', but I'd guess that the flavor text should simply show that Deedee is the kind who likes to write poems.

Virtual World: The quote explains a fundamental truth of Yang, rather than specifically say that he linked every computer center to an entertainment theatre. I am not sure if the latter would be in character for him.

Space Elevator: That refers to earth, so is most likely from a book written by Zak before the Alpha-Centauri mission. Again, no evidence he built the space elevator.

Merchant exchange: While it makes sense Morgan built it, the flavor text is again a description of his fundamental ideology, rather than a reference to anything 'built'.

Longevity Vaccine: Yeah, know, wouldn't we all love to live forever?

Command Nexus: Description of Spartan knowledge, rather a specific installation being built.

The Believer quotes stick out the most, since it's just religious blurb that's included in there, often contrary to the spirit of the SP, rather than any reference that they have achieved any technological advance.

Planetary Transit: Observation of people's behaviour, but no indication that the Believers built a huge, planet-spanning transport facility. That'd suit Morgan much better anyways.

Universal Translator: A quote bible quote, which is the opposite of the point of the SP. After all, the Universal Translator does allow to understand.

Self-Aware Colony: Miriam: 'Will we create false gods to rule over us?' -- Zak: 'Sure, why not?'

Clinical Immortality: Again, a contrary, critical point to the SP, fueled with cute Bible words.

Bulk Matter Transmitter: Same point as above. I'm pretty sure those Miriam quotes support my theory well, since I doubt she would allow those SP's to be built by hert faction.

Datalinks: Lal's ideology, most likely taken from a report before the Alpha-Centauri mission.

Just another point of view (and, yes, I still think it's a cool thread).
-joer.
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Old May 5, 2000, 05:25   #25
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There is plenty of evidence that the Gaians built the Telepathic Matrix

Watch the film, at the very end the Matrix building is on top of other buildings that are clearly a Gaian city.

Also, I think that the Longevity Vaccine also indicates that Mount Planet is inside Morgan territory, although strangely enough the terrain shown in the wonder movie doesn't mesh with the terrain on the map of Planet.
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Old May 5, 2000, 05:32   #26
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Now this is just speculation.

I think the Gaians built the Dream Twister, and the Spartans built the Neural Amplifier. This speculation assumes that the Gaians and Spartans were at war, which is pretty obvious from some of the datalink files.

It would make sense that Gaians were using native life forms and other psi units in their attacks against the Spartans, who very well could have had superior weapon technology. The Dream Twister is used against Assassin's Redoubt, a Spartan base. It would also make sense then that the Spartans would develop the Neural Amplifier as a way to slow down the mass psi attack.

While it never really says who built the Dream Twister, the Gaians would benefit the most from it, esp. if they were primarily using psi attacks. A few demon boils here and there and presto: dead Spartans.
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Old May 12, 2000, 14:25   #27
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I don't understand why everyone just assumes that the Spartans are toast. Hasn't anyone ever had their home base (Sparta Command, in this instance) be destroyed, but still lived on until the end of the game? I prefer to think that perhaps the Spartans just suffered a similar fate to the Hive and the PK's. Their empire begins to dwindle after the climactic battle at Sparta Command, but does not entirely fade away.
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Old May 12, 2000, 23:44   #28
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Along the same line, we can reconstruct part of the history of Planet itself. This is my favorite quote from datalinks:

##Sentient Econometrics
#TECH75
The fungus has been Planet's dominant lifeform since about
the time of the Lower Paleozoic on Earth. But when, once every
hundred million years or so, the neural net at last achieves the
critical mass necessary to become sentient, the final metamorphosis
kills off most of the other life on the planet. It is possible that
we humans can help to break this tragic cycle.
^
^ -- Lady Deirdre Skye,
^ "Planet Dreams"

This quote gives a clear glimpse into Planet's past, and hints at how ancient it truly is. It also, by inference, suggests the Progentitors have been around a very long time if they created Planet, which has been in existence for around 600 million years (which is the time period of the lower Paleozoic (which means 'early life') on Earth). So the Progenitors were forming planets and sentient ecosystems when multicellular life was just evolving in Earth's ancient oceans! Imagine!

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Old May 14, 2000, 00:14   #29
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quote:


In late game, however, Univ, Gaians
and Morgan are dominant.



Then the game wasn't played well if only 2 builders and a hybrid were there.

quote:


maybe an alliance between the Gaians and Hive



In AI and MP games, I find an alliance and Hive always happens, for the most part.
[This message has been edited by EternalSpark (edited May 13, 2000).]
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Old May 14, 2000, 05:49   #30
Alinestra Covelia
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Have Firaxis either confirmed or denied that there was a final story to the post-landing history of Planet?

Personally, I think it's quite likely that there was a vague idea of who should get which quotes, but no real overspanning plan or plot to them. Often enough I make parallel stories like that, but which have no real great plot to them. It then amuses me when other people try (and sometimes frighteningly succeed) in finding rhyme and reason to it.

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