Alpha Centauri 2

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri & Alien Crossfire => The Theory of Everything => Topic started by: firebomb173 on December 07, 2014, 01:53:53 AM

Title: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: firebomb173 on December 07, 2014, 01:53:53 AM
In addition to the game itself, what is considered canon? Besides the main game and its expansion, there are novels, the online faction leader profiles, and the GURPS supplement. I am also wondering if, in addition to whether they are considered canon, were written by anyone involved in the game.
Title: Re: What is considered canon for in Alpha Centauri.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 07, 2014, 01:56:46 AM
I don't know that there's any kind of community consensus about that.  I'd hazard that the majority haven't had any opportunity to read the GURPS stuff or the Ely novels, for one thing.
Title: Re: What is considered canon for in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Yitzi on December 07, 2014, 03:44:05 AM
In a game like SMAC, canon is inevitably a fuzzy concept.  After all, canon as indicated by the quotes strongly suggests that the Spartans were wiped out by the Gaians, but you can play a game where that doesn't happen.

Everything that happens before the game starts is definitely canon; after, it's somewhat fuzzier.
Title: Re: What is considered canon for in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: JeroenDStout on December 07, 2014, 01:08:29 PM
In a game like SMAC, canon is inevitably a fuzzy concept.  After all, canon as indicated by the quotes strongly suggests that the Spartans were wiped out by the Gaians, but you can play a game where that doesn't happen.

Introducing it to a friend he wondered what the implication was that you could see the faction dominance and hear quotes from other factions before finding them. My own head-justification is that you are sort-of looking at historical documents (i.e., Book of Planet) and that all the turns you do are in the past.

Or, even, all the things you see in the game are the dreams of Planet once it reaches godhood.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: BeyondChiron on December 10, 2014, 08:42:11 PM
Well the probable canon is that

*At some point near the late game Yang either was wiped or recluded to his bunkers, since he mostly dissapears from science quotes. On the very least he must have stuck until the Will to Power (Explore 9) since thats what allows Thought Control. And the Self Aware Colony is generally attributed to him so that keeps both him and Miriam up to Self Aware Machines (Discover 12)
*Miriam has quotes up to Controlled Singularity (Conquer 15) but its a previous book so idk. Her quote in Psi Gate (from Matter Transmition Discover 13) kinda implies either mass suicide or a last stand using one of those though.
*The Spartans were wiped out by the Gaians after Probability Mechanics (Build 7) since Sparta Command had one of those, after the Will to Power since the Dream Twister was probably theirs and the quote involves the destruction of Assassin's Redoubt and around Quantum Power (Discover 11) since the Headquarters quote (which once tell about the aftermath of it) involves a quantum tank
*Lal also becomes pretty irrelevant. He was either wiped out or just realized the futility of his job towards late game and allowed himself to be absorbed by the gaians or the university
*Which leads that despite the Lab 3 incident, the Gaians and the University probably became pact brothers at some point, since the Voice of Planet was done by Zakharov
*Deidre was the one having all the visions and dreams of Planet and the Gaians were probably the ones who achieved the Transcendence. The University (and the peacekeepers if they did survive) probably co won with her.
*I think Morgan almost pulled an economic victory, but the transcendence won over him.

Also

*The Gaians probably started around the Pholus ridge and the Manifold Nexus given the AoT and the Pholus Mutagen
*The Hive Probaly started around Barren Wastelands judging their render appareance
*The Morganites considered Mount Planet their land or were fighting for it if we're to take the Longevity Vaccine MorganTV spot accurate
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Geo on December 10, 2014, 10:16:52 PM
And then there were the expansion quotes from Alien Crossfire...
Domai seems to have fielded singularity weapons in the end.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 10, 2014, 10:36:29 PM
I sorta like to think of Crossfire factions as having landed on the opposite hemisphere, out of touch with the first seven for as long as possible, having parallel adventures...
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: BeyondChiron on December 10, 2014, 11:07:50 PM
I rarely play Smax because i dont really like any of the new factions. But the things can can be assured are

*The Free Drones were fine and good up to 2216 and iirc, the gamegoes up to 2500 yrs in the gurps book. They probably made the cloudbase academy given that the quote is an obvious reference to Santiago's quote about aerial combat combining flexiblity, mobility and initiative. Idk about the superstring quote because it doesnt outright mention it.

*The Conciousness and the Cult made the contact with the aliens. I think the Cult met with an Usurper betrayer and fought against them and the Conciousness with the Caretakers, since she speaks of a her and the relationship between them sounds far more diplomatic.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 10, 2014, 11:15:35 PM
Of course, for any of the Xfire factions to be splinters of any originals as they are commonly held by most SMACers to be, you have to ignore that (excepting Cha and the Progs) they're there on Planet, intact factions like any other, MY 1.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: BeyondChiron on December 10, 2014, 11:42:20 PM
I dont understand what you are saying. I mean of course they start at MY1 but thats gameplay mechanics.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 10, 2014, 11:43:33 PM
Well, the ultimate level of cannon is what's in the game, yes?
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: BeyondChiron on December 10, 2014, 11:49:55 PM
Well in games like Civ i think the background takes precedence over what happens in game since each game is different.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 11, 2014, 12:02:17 AM
That's a different thing than I was talking about - obviously you can't take plot from the interactive part of an interactive medium.

But what's in the datalinks, the leader quotes, the movies -anything that's already in place at the beginning of the game and not generated by variable gameplay- is fact in the game's universe, not to be contradicted by anything from my fanfic to Michael Ely's officially-sanctioned professional novels.  What's in the game is cannon over all else.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Yitzi on December 11, 2014, 12:25:51 AM
That's a different thing than I was talking about - obviously you can't take plot from the interactive part of an interactive medium.

But what's in the datalinks, the leader quotes, the movies -anything that's already in place at the beginning of the game and not generated by variable gameplay- is fact in the game's universe, not to be contradicted by anything from my fanfic to Michael Ely's officially-sanctioned professional novels.  What's in the game is cannon over all else.

Don't you mean "canon"?   :P
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 11, 2014, 12:41:12 AM
[blinks]

No, I meant honkin' big artillery guns.

I don't make mistakes. ;nod
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Yitzi on December 11, 2014, 12:44:56 AM
[blinks]

No, I meant honkin' big artillery guns.

I don't make mistakes. ;nod

Ok...in that case I just don't understand your statement.  Are formers and probe teams truly big artillery guns?
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: BeyondChiron on December 11, 2014, 12:56:11 AM
@BUncle ah ok. In that case i agree.

I wonder how the novels are. I havent read them
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 11, 2014, 01:25:33 AM
Same here - I have a weak sense of the plot from comments I've seen, and I read the story he wrote that Firaxis put out online to promote the game, and have read excerpts - but not enough to get as really strong sense of whether the books are good, or whether I would agree his take on the milieu and the people.  What I have read was okay.  I would be curious to read the books, if I could lay hands on copies.

[blinks]

No, I meant honkin' big artillery guns.

I don't make mistakes. ;nod

Ok...in that case I just don't understand your statement.  Are formers and probe teams truly big artillery guns?
It's probably a good idea, when you find post of mine is confusing, to ask yourself if BU just made another bomb of a joke.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Yitzi on December 11, 2014, 01:27:42 AM
It's probably a good idea, when you find post of mine is confusing, to ask yourself if BU just made another bomb of a joke.

Oh, I knew you weren't serious.  I just decided to play along.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: BeyondChiron on December 11, 2014, 01:32:40 AM
I read the synopsis in Civ wiki. Never knew it had them. I already hate them.

Journey to Centauri is good though. I havent read arrival yet
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 11, 2014, 01:38:22 AM
http://alphacentauri2.info/official/Sid%20Meier%27s%20Alpha%20Centauri%20The%20Story_cfm.htm (http://alphacentauri2.info/official/Sid%20Meier%27s%20Alpha%20Centauri%20The%20Story_cfm.htm)

---

Let us note for history's sake, that Yitzi totally faked me out on a joke. ;b;
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: BeyondChiron on December 11, 2014, 02:23:58 AM
I didnt mean that kind of "book-back" synopsis, i meant the "the entire book plot resumed" kind.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 11, 2014, 02:26:46 AM
The links on the page to the Journey to Centauri and Centauri: Arrival texts actually work.  You can read Arrival any time you want.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: BeyondChiron on December 11, 2014, 02:48:22 AM
Ahhh i missunderstood you. Yeah i know, thats where i read JoAC. I just havent had time for Arrival. Thank you anyway though :D
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 11, 2014, 02:54:45 AM
:D I rescued that page myself, and let me tell you - whomever made the official AC pages for Firaxis did not do a neat job that made it easy for me.

...Actually, I need to finish the Tech pages so we can try to get the whole mirror mentioned in the Wikipedia SMACX article.

Oh eeeete!  I need your help with something!...

(ete edit: hit edit rather than quote, fixed now.)
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: BeyondChiron on December 11, 2014, 03:08:14 AM
Well thank you for that  :D i asume that the entire thing predates the game release since Zak is called Saratov. You saved a pair of jewels for future fans like us :3

what is missing?
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 11, 2014, 03:35:53 AM
Journey, IIRC, was indeed published one chapter at a time online in the months leading up to the original SMAC release.


In the Technology section, there are a million individual pages for each tech, former command, weapon, and so on - Kilkakon, who is much better qualified, volunteered to take over when I'd grinded about a third of my way through reconstructing them ... and has kept having real life happen instead for over two years now.

The biggest sticking point, though, is that the Basic Concepts and Advanced Concepts sections are completely gone from all the internet archives I can find.  -All the other bits, we have the pages, and only have to fix them so the pictures show and stuff like that - a LOT of work, but doable, just a grind.  The Concepts pages have to be re-imagined completely, and I'm willing to grind out a million mini-pages, but don't wanna have make the Concepts pages from nothing.  Fortunately, that's datalinks stuff, and ete did a complete proofing/revision of GooglyBoogly's Datalinks Update - and I hope I can talk him, as the resident expert in what's missing, into helping with this, whether Kilkakon finishes the actual page-making or I do.

Getting any kind of link on Wikipedia would be HUGELY beneficial publicity for this forum/community, and how could they turn down a mirror/reconstruction of the Official Firaxis AC pages?  We need this almost three years ago, but I'll settle for in the next few months.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: BeyondChiron on December 11, 2014, 05:56:34 AM
So you're trying to recreate the AC original website in the AC wiki? Personally i feel like a more centralized and easier to access with "juicier" articles would be able to become linkable in Wikipedia easier than a big wiki with thousands of "stubs". Adding stuff like the GURPs info and the datalinks info as you previously said. I'd help but im busy with the uni rn  :-\
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Geo on December 11, 2014, 12:06:38 PM
[blinks]

No, I meant honkin' big artillery guns.

I don't make mistakes. ;nod

 ;lol
Perish the thought!
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Sigma on December 11, 2014, 01:01:30 PM
@BUncle ah ok. In that case i agree.

I wonder how the novels are. I havent read them
They are okay. They end up in a very dark place:

(click to show/hide)
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: JeroenDStout on December 11, 2014, 01:34:18 PM
With regards to the later starting dates of the other factions and canon... that confused me about SMAC. Ideally you would play with all 14 factions and have the split-offs happen later, perhaps give the progenitors a head start, and such. I feel the same starting date is mostly a technical thing more than a 'may be read as canon' thing.

Even the start year of 2100 is suspect. Who would launch a space vessel to arrive at such a nice round time ;)
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Yitzi on December 11, 2014, 02:18:45 PM
@BUncle ah ok. In that case i agree.

I wonder how the novels are. I havent read them
They are okay. They end up in a very dark place:

(click to show/hide)

Which is not what I consider the "standard"/"canon" story of SMAC, which ends with the Gaians achieving transcendence.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: BeyondChiron on December 12, 2014, 03:11:25 AM
Ok i'll just ignore all that

I refuse to believe an ending where Miriam wins, becausr mass suicide throug a psi gate is cooler :p i wish i could read them nonethelesz
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 14, 2014, 02:59:41 AM
Incidentally, the motion comic thing at the bottom of the Story page on the official mirror is still linked through the WayBack Machine, because I and no one who spoke up could figure out how to get the file to host - so pain in the butt slow WayBack load there, and I don't trust it not to disappear someday the way pictures do on the WM.  Help with that would be appreciated, if anyone could figure out how.

It's worth a view, BTW, even in its present arrangement.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Yitzi on December 14, 2014, 03:38:03 AM
Ok i'll just ignore all that

I refuse to believe an ending where Miriam wins, becausr mass suicide throug a psi gate is cooler :p i wish i could read them nonethelesz

I don't see either as happening; I think of  ;miriam; as being an ever-more-ignored voice as time progresses, but never quite disappearing and eventually making a minor contribution to the Planetmind as well as contributing a substantial number of those who keep their human forms after Transcendence.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 14, 2014, 03:43:35 AM
Stubbornness is SO fundamental to  ;miriam;'s nature.  I suppose you could put her in a Masada situation, but I can't see her just giving up, for sure - and suicide is a sin - Full stop.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: JeroenDStout on December 14, 2014, 05:23:10 PM
Ok i'll just ignore all that

I refuse to believe an ending where Miriam wins, becausr mass suicide throug a psi gate is cooler :p i wish i could read them nonethelesz

I don't see either as happening; I think of  ;miriam; as being an ever-more-ignored voice as time progresses, but never quite disappearing and eventually making a minor contribution to the Planetmind as well as contributing a substantial number of those who keep their human forms after Transcendence.

I don't think the tech quotes even really say who it is she is sending through. Or even whether the other end is just a null. We can spin it into meaning anything, which is why those two quotes, which most players will rarely hear, are so terrifying. She could also be brainwashing other faction's citizens by presenting it as a miracle to a promised land.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Yitzi on December 14, 2014, 06:57:59 PM
Ok i'll just ignore all that

I refuse to believe an ending where Miriam wins, becausr mass suicide throug a psi gate is cooler :p i wish i could read them nonethelesz

I don't see either as happening; I think of  ;miriam; as being an ever-more-ignored voice as time progresses, but never quite disappearing and eventually making a minor contribution to the Planetmind as well as contributing a substantial number of those who keep their human forms after Transcendence.

I don't think the tech quotes even really say who it is she is sending through. Or even whether the other end is just a null. We can spin it into meaning anything, which is why those two quotes, which most players will rarely hear, are so terrifying. She could also be brainwashing other faction's citizens by presenting it as a miracle to a promised land.

That quote actually looks far too optimistic to be mass suicide; "the time of miracles is upon us" is not what you'd say before mass suicide.

I think that is the last thing she told her followers before abdicating her position in the wake of Transcendence, which she sees as God's method of returning humanity to Eden.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 14, 2014, 07:04:34 PM
I've always found the dichotomy between the thoughtful science ethicist Miriam in the tech quotes & project movies, and the petulantly hostile Miriam of faction diplomacy interesting.  That's probably just poor creative coordination, but in-universe, it hints at a complex personality...
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: firebomb173 on December 14, 2014, 11:59:06 PM
I've always found the dichotomy between the thoughtful science ethicist Miriam in the tech quotes & project movies, and the petulantly hostile Miriam of faction diplomacy interesting.  That's probably just poor creative coordination, but in-universe, it hints at a complex personality...

That's an interesting way of seeing her, and you're not the only person who thinks of her that way. I personally always saw her as a sanctimonious lunatic whose concern for others was warped to the point where it was little more than an excuse to destroy anything she believed was deviant. To me she's basically like the mother from the movie Carrie, except in charge of a nation. Then again, when I saw even the messed up cinematic for secret projects like the Self-Aware colony all I was thinking was "just think of the potential"!
Oh, and I found a great article about Alpha Centauri and the meaning of what Miriam was saying about technology. Even though I don't agree with it it's still an excellent read.
http://quinnae.com/2014/04/19/but-for-the-grace-of-tuche-why-writers-should-avoid-the-temptations-of-caricature/ (http://quinnae.com/2014/04/19/but-for-the-grace-of-tuche-why-writers-should-avoid-the-temptations-of-caricature/)
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: BeyondChiron on December 15, 2014, 04:16:11 PM
Ok i'll just ignore all that

I refuse to believe an ending where Miriam wins, becausr mass suicide throug a psi gate is cooler :p i wish i could read them nonethelesz

I don't see either as happening; I think of  ;miriam; as being an ever-more-ignored voice as time progresses, but never quite disappearing and eventually making a minor contribution to the Planetmind as well as contributing a substantial number of those who keep their human forms after Transcendence.
Well the work which Psi Gate quotes is called Last Testament. Add to that  "walking to the garden of God" and "casting off sin" sugests that whatever it happened, it was definitive.

Her lack of concern for planet (Promised Land) and her Christianity probably clashing with the Cult of Planet that arose late game leads me to think she isnt one for transcendence. And the "with luck we shall meet on the other side" suggest death in my opinion. I can almost picture her in a podium in New Jerusalen, beseeching her flock to go through and them going unknowingly and bindly to it. She seems like the kind who would find transcendece sacrilegy and would get a shitton of people killed to "save their souls"
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Dio on December 15, 2014, 04:34:52 PM
Ok i'll just ignore all that

I refuse to believe an ending where Miriam wins, becausr mass suicide throug a psi gate is cooler :p i wish i could read them nonethelesz

I don't see either as happening; I think of  ;miriam; as being an ever-more-ignored voice as time progresses, but never quite disappearing and eventually making a minor contribution to the Planetmind as well as contributing a substantial number of those who keep their human forms after Transcendence.
Well the work which Psi Gate quotes is called Last Testament. Add to that  "walking to the garden of God" and "casting off sin" sugests that whatever it happened, it was definitive.

Her lack of concern for planet (Promised Land) and her Christianity probably clashing with the Cult of Planet that arose late game leads me to think she isnt one for transcendence. And the "with luck we shall meet on the other side" suggest death in my opinion. I can almost picture her in a podium in New Jerusalen, beseeching her flock to go through and them going unknowingly and bindly to it. She seems like the kind who would find transcendece sacrilegy and would get a shitton of people killed to "save their souls"
Her planet penalty never really made much sense to me from a flavor perspective. What would make her faction more disruptive of planet's ecosystems than, for example, Morgan Industries or The Spartan Federation? Also, I do not think that the SMAX factions backstories should be mixed with the original seven factions backstories since the game was orignally developed with only the original seven factions in mind.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: BeyondChiron on December 15, 2014, 05:03:45 PM
According to the gurps book, they have some dificulties adapting  their activities to the planet ecology (whatever those activities are) and their beliefs tell them planet is their promised land to be used as they see fit. I guess they didnt blink once to remove fungi.

Also according to the book she is sympatheyuc on the outsude but terribly intolerant of views differentt of hers in the inside so i guess that explains it
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Yitzi on December 15, 2014, 07:28:04 PM
Ok i'll just ignore all that

I refuse to believe an ending where Miriam wins, becausr mass suicide throug a psi gate is cooler :p i wish i could read them nonethelesz

I don't see either as happening; I think of  ;miriam; as being an ever-more-ignored voice as time progresses, but never quite disappearing and eventually making a minor contribution to the Planetmind as well as contributing a substantial number of those who keep their human forms after Transcendence.
Well the work which Psi Gate quotes is called Last Testament.

Yeah, before she abdicated.

Quote
Add to that  "walking to the garden of God" and "casting off sin" sugests that whatever it happened, it was definitive.

True, and Transcendence is definitely definitive.

Quote
Her lack of concern for planet (Promised Land) and her Christianity probably clashing with the Cult of Planet that arose late game leads me to think she isnt one for transcendence. And the "with luck we shall meet on the other side" suggest death in my opinion. I can almost picture her in a podium in New Jerusalen, beseeching her flock to go through and them going unknowingly and bindly to it. She seems like the kind who would find transcendece sacrilegy and would get a shitton of people killed to "save their souls"

Except:
1. That doesn't fit with the "age of miracles" part of the quote.
2. After Transcendence, Planet (for those who didn't join the Planetmind) is very much a Promised Land and a return to Eden (just read the epilogue), fitting very nicely with the language in that quote.
3. None of the main faction leaders like the Cult of Planet, and I suspect it fizzled out once the Voice of Planet was operational.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: BeyondChiron on December 15, 2014, 08:14:38 PM

Yeah, before she abdicated.

True, and Transcendence is definitely definitive.

 
Except:
1. That doesn't fit with the "age of miracles" part of the quote.
2. After Transcendence, Planet (for those who didn't join the Planetmind) is very much a Promised Land and a return to Eden (just read the epilogue), fitting very nicely with the language in that quote.
3. None of the main faction leaders like the Cult of Planet, and I suspect it fizzled out once the Voice of Planet was operational.

1- I think the only leader hinted to have abdicated is Morgan, since while Morgan industries keeps showing up, Nwabudlike doesnt.

2-It is, but like i said before, she doesnt appear to me like the kind that would accept it (once again, her intolerance and her lack of concern for planet) 

3- I feel like going to Heaven does fit the bill though (and to go there being dead is kinda a requirement) and I feel like that line is about that (You really cant cast off sin until you are dead)

4-It does. And it equally fits what i said too :s

5- Im not talking about the faction, I'm talking about the literal cult, like the worshipping. In late game, you can Temples of Planet and according to the gurps book worshipping Planet became a religion (a very pagan style one). I feel like that just the existance of any religion more popular than Christianism would be enough to make her shut down to any further reasoning, much more one that sees her "Promised Land" as a God
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Yitzi on December 16, 2014, 02:01:49 AM

Yeah, before she abdicated.

True, and Transcendence is definitely definitive.

 
Except:
1. That doesn't fit with the "age of miracles" part of the quote.
2. After Transcendence, Planet (for those who didn't join the Planetmind) is very much a Promised Land and a return to Eden (just read the epilogue), fitting very nicely with the language in that quote.
3. None of the main faction leaders like the Cult of Planet, and I suspect it fizzled out once the Voice of Planet was operational.

1- I think the only leader hinted to have abdicated is Morgan, since while Morgan industries keeps showing up, Nwabudlike doesnt.

That doesn't necessarily mean much; it could just be that after a few centuries Morgan delegated more while still officially being the CEO.

In fact, because the seven faction leaders are the leaders throughout the game, any abdication must be after someone wins, which would explain why it's not referenced in the game except with an endgame feature.  My interpretation here already works best with "after the Gaians got Transcendence", so that works well.

Quote
2-It is, but like i said before, she doesnt appear to me like the kind that would accept it (once again, her intolerance and her lack of concern for planet) 

I don't really see her as that intolerant.  "But it was never the streets that were evil", after all.  And her lack of concern for the planet would likely end once Planet is revealed to be an actual person, in which case her tendency toward empathy would likely mean she'd care about it too.

Quote
3- I feel like going to Heaven does fit the bill though (and to go there being dead is kinda a requirement) and I feel like that line is about that (You really cant cast off sin until you are dead)

The problem is that doesn't fit "time of miracles".  As for casting off sin...if sin entered humanity at the time of expulsion from Eden, wouldn't a return to Eden naturally come with casting off sin?

Quote
4-It does. And it equally fits what i said too :s

The "age of miracles" part doesn't really seem to fit your theory, and it also doesn't really fit  ;miriam;'s character as shown in pretty much everything about her (her faction is largely fanatics, but she seems to be less so.)

Quote
5- Im not talking about the faction, I'm talking about the literal cult, like the worshipping. In late game, you can Temples of Planet and according to the gurps book worshipping Planet became a religion (a very pagan style one). I feel like that just the existance of any religion more popular than Christianism would be enough to make her shut down to any further reasoning, much more one that sees her "Promised Land" as a God

I think it would very much get a hostile backlash from her, but I don't think it would have a particularly detrimental effect on her relationship with anyone other than the cult.  And as for the cult itself, I don't think it would last long after the Voice of Planet is operational.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: BeyondChiron on December 16, 2014, 03:38:56 AM
1- Fair enough

2- The gurps book outright says that despite her symphatic exterior she is profoundly intolerant of other ideologies. The fact that you think she isnt and that she is less fanatical just shiws why was she chosen as Psych Chaplain of the Unity (and from the meta perspective, it shows the skills from the writers)

3- I guess i'll just agree to disagree. Imo it doesnt get any more "miracle-ey" than, well, Heaven. And afaik (im catholic) the only way to stop sining (ie casting sin off) is to die

4- See above. Once again she is just generally smarter than going "GOD WILL SMITE YOU FROM ABOVE"  (except in the Theory of Everything iirc quote). This is a smart and complex fictional woman after all. Im sure that the part about her becoming a Messiah for millions of people in the Middle East after going there with the UN is what inspired Kavitha Thakur's creation

5- I'm not talking about the faction. I'm talking about the unoficial religion of planet which develops late game which, well, worships the planet

I really recomend you reading the gurps book. If you can find it and buy it great but if you cant its a google search away from you
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Yitzi on December 16, 2014, 04:00:45 AM
1- Fair enough

2- The gurps book outright says that despite her symphatic exterior she is profoundly intolerant of other ideologies. The fact that you think she isnt and that she is less fanatical just shiws why was she chosen as Psych Chaplain of the Unity (and from the meta perspective, it shows the skills from the writers)

She is intolerant of other ideologies, I don't think she is intolerant of things that are not ideologies.

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3- I guess i'll just agree to disagree. Imo it doesnt get any more "miracle-ey" than, well, Heaven. And afaik (im catholic) the only way to stop sining (ie casting sin off) is to die

"Time of miracles" doesn't really sound like "heaven, where there have always been miracles".  Perhaps we will just agree to disagree.

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4- See above. Once again she is just generally smarter than going "GOD WILL SMITE YOU FROM ABOVE"  (except in the Theory of Everything iirc quote). This is a smart and complex fictional woman after all. Im sure that the part about her becoming a Messiah for millions of people in the Middle East after going there with the UN is what inspired Kavitha Thakur's creation

Entirely plausible.

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5- I'm not talking about the faction. I'm talking about the unoficial religion of planet which develops late game which, well, worships the planet

So was I.  But I don't think that would last long after the Voice is active.  Planet's personality, when you can actually encounter it, is not very worshippable.

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I really recomend you reading the gurps book. If you can find it and buy it great but if you cant its a google search away from you

Sounds like a good idea.  Maybe we can even play a play-by-post game sometime (although if it turns out to not be a very good game, maybe we can design our own SMAC RPG instead...)
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: BeyondChiron on December 16, 2014, 04:40:53 AM
1-Well the social process which lead to transcendence is definitely another ideology. Plus the whole "Human becoming gods thing" which is totally sacrilegious

3- Exactly

4- Awesome

5- After that it became a buddhist thing where people purged themselves of material possesions and meditated in the wilds and stuff like that. It sounded very Nirvana seeking

6-Sounds like a good plan.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Yitzi on December 16, 2014, 04:50:13 AM
1-Well the social process which lead to transcendence is definitely another ideology.

I don't think it's an ideology in that sense.

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Plus the whole "Human becoming gods thing" which is totally sacrilegious

I'm guessing that she would oppose the phrasing as "gods", but not the concept of joining in the Flowering itself.

Well, unless "Last Testament" doesn't mean in the sense of "last will and testament" but as a successor to the New.

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5- After that it became a buddhist thing where people purged themselves of material possesions and meditated in the wilds and stuff like that. It sounded very Nirvana seeking

I don't think that was the same as the Planet cult.

Quote
6-Sounds like a good plan.

Now I've read enough of the GURPS book to determine that it is not a particularly reliable source; it says the progenitor civil war was about what to do with their vast resources and the question was whether to loot said resources to achieve godhood.

In reality, the split was clearly the result of the Tau Ceti disaster, in which another one of the Manifolds underwent flowering (likely as per the plan for the Manifold project) and ravaged nearby systems.  The Usurpers felt it was still worth going ahead with the project and completing it via a form of Transcendence (enslaving the existing Planetary mind to achieve godhood), whereas the Caretakers felt the risk was too high and the project should be cancelled and flowering avoided.

And then one of the Manifold planets (actually, the one with the control center for the whole project) turned out to be only 4 light-years from a system with another sapient species with a very different view of things...
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: BeyondChiron on December 16, 2014, 06:14:53 AM
when it all comes down to "i think"s there is really not a lot to say.

I always understood like the Manifold incident was just the latest thing in that war. And truth to be said it makes more sense that way because becoming eternal enemies in just four (light) years...it sounds kinda silly
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Yitzi on December 16, 2014, 12:48:55 PM
when it all comes down to "i think"s there is really not a lot to say.

I always understood like the Manifold incident was just the latest thing in that war. And truth to be said it makes more sense that way because becoming eternal enemies in just four (light) years...it sounds kinda silly

Where do you see four (light) years in the Progenitor civil war?  I referenced that amount as the distance from Earth to Alpha Centauri; humanity presents a third option in the Progenitor civil war.

The Tau Ceti incident itself was likely hundreds if not thousands of years ago, and its reference by both sides (explicitly by  ;caretake;, as "risks of flowering" by  ;marr;), and its high relevance to the main issue at hand, makes me think that it was what caused the civil war.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: BeyondChiron on December 16, 2014, 03:43:31 PM
Ah I misunderstood your post. I still don't see anything in the game that contradicts the gurps guide in the war being older than the failure of tau ceti though.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Yitzi on December 16, 2014, 07:22:31 PM
Ah I misunderstood your post. I still don't see anything in the game that contradicts the gurps guide in the war being older than the failure of tau ceti though.

The fact that both  ;caretake; and  ;marr; portray their conflict as being a response to Tau Ceti sort of indicates that's how it began.   ;caretake; doesn't really seem to be against Transcendence on principle, but rather because of the danger it'll lead to another Tau Ceti.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: BeyondChiron on December 16, 2014, 07:49:00 PM
Ah I misunderstood your post. I still don't see anything in the game that contradicts the gurps guide in the war being older than the failure of tau ceti though.

The fact that both  ;caretake; and  ;marr; portray their conflict as being a response to Tau Ceti sort of indicates that's how it began.   ;caretake; doesn't really seem to be against Transcendence on principle, but rather because of the danger it'll lead to another Tau Ceti.

Well maybe its becausecits because it was the recent event or because they hadnt actually clashes against each other before and they did there. Either way it doesnt contradict the previously stated nor it makes the book inconsistent. On top of that the progenitors dont have a lot f quotes anyway so the book is invaluable regarding them.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Flux on December 16, 2014, 10:48:43 PM
I wonder how the novels are. I havent read them
I'm ordering "Centauri Dawn" of Amazon some time in the near future, so I'll say what I have to say about it in the reading corner.
Although the reviews I've heard of it are that it was mostly a chore to get through.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Yitzi on December 17, 2014, 12:55:12 PM

The fact that both  ;caretake; and  ;marr; portray their conflict as being a response to Tau Ceti sort of indicates that's how it began.   ;caretake; doesn't really seem to be against Transcendence on principle, but rather because of the danger it'll lead to another Tau Ceti.

Well maybe its becausecits because it was the recent event or because they hadnt actually clashes against each other before and they did there.

Except neither of those would explain its relevance to Transcendence.

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On top of that the progenitors dont have a lot f quotes anyway so the book is invaluable regarding them.

Only if it is correct, which I am arguing it is not.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: BeyondChiron on December 17, 2014, 02:41:27 PM
Transcendence importance comes from the last Tau Ceti thing yes but how would that invalidate a previous war or make it inconsistent? In SMAX the progenitors all about that because thats how they will reach "Godhood" and the Caretakers are all about stopping the Usurpers.

Anyway, the gurps book is officially supported by firaxis and frankly i find your reasons to doubt its canonicity not only minor but also really relative :s
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Yitzi on December 17, 2014, 11:11:30 PM
Transcendence importance comes from the last Tau Ceti thing yes but how would that invalidate a previous war or make it inconsistent?

Because that's what the war is all about.  Also, the GURPS book makes it clear that it is talking about the Transcendence issue...but still portrays it as a philosophical difference rather than the response to the Tau Ceti incident.

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Anyway, the gurps book is officially supported by firaxis and frankly i find your reasons to doubt its canonicity not only minor but also really relative :s

I find those reasons compelling.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Dio on January 08, 2015, 04:21:25 PM
In regards to Miriam's quote from the psi gate, perhaps these quotations from the unused script "#ASCENTNOTYET" and a portion of interlude16 might shed some light on the matter.

Quote
'Those who wish to live out their lives in their original human form will be allowed
to do so, since statis generators built Planetside and in orbit will preserve genetic
material, plant and animal embryos, cold-sleep humans, and significant areas of Planet's
surface through the metamorphosis.'
 
##ASCENTNOTYET
##xs 440
##caption Operations Director
#$BASENAME0 is ready to activate the Ascent to Transcendence
#project, but we do not have a sufficient number of Psi Gates
#and Stasis Generators at our bases!'

Perhaps Miriam was the one who led the remaining humans that did not want to transcend through the psi gates and into the statis generators. This transcendence would also, as mentioned previously, cause her religious order to mostly collapse and thus force her to abdicate as a faction leader.

On a related note, the interludes imply to me as though the secret projects Voice of Planet and The Ascent to Transcendence should be further apart. The number order of the interludes seem to indicate that the blurb from sentient econometrics chronologically should be after the voice of planet secret project. Finally, I noted that they either pretty much took the blurb from sentient econometrics and put it into interlude15 or vice versa.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: BeyondChiron on January 08, 2015, 06:31:26 PM
that works too. Altough i prefer the Jim Jones approach.

the gurps guide calls the last ae of humanking "the age of transcendence". Id say that it starts eith the voice, the book also says that completing the "Manifold Harmonics" gives you a boost to the Transcendence process so it says it goes in between VoP and AtT.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Geo on January 08, 2015, 06:55:24 PM
On a related note, the interludes imply to me as though the secret projects Voice of Planet and The Ascent to Transcendence should be further apart. The number order of the interludes seem to indicate that the blurb from sentient econometrics chronologically should be after the voice of planet secret project. Finally, I noted that they either pretty much took the blurb from sentient econometrics and put it into interlude15 or vice versa.

IIRC, completion of the VoP allows every human faction (and probably the Usurpers as well) start work on the AtT, so it doesn't matter where in the techtree it sits.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Yitzi on January 09, 2015, 12:32:59 PM
IIRC, completion of the VoP allows every human faction (and probably the Usurpers as well) start work on the AtT, so it doesn't matter where in the techtree it sits.

This is true without my patch, but one of the changes in my patch is that you also need the tech (which has been changed to None in alphax in order to keep gameplay the same, but can now be modded.)  I actually changed it largely due to the story motivations Dio mentioned.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Geo on January 09, 2015, 07:00:07 PM
IIRC, completion of the VoP allows every human faction (and probably the Usurpers as well) start work on the AtT, so it doesn't matter where in the techtree it sits.

This is true without my patch,...

I knew that. ;)
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Flux on January 09, 2015, 10:42:51 PM
SMAC RPG
-This would be a good way to get people to be more active. (looking at you, BU)
I really don't have a solid opinion of Roleplayers, though. So if that isn't the kind of attention we want...
Although I'm not sure how it would work.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Flux on January 10, 2015, 03:06:44 AM
As far as I can tell it seems this:
Unity stuff with Garland
Spartans got skunked ;3
-But besides that, I really think the idea of the game was to create your own future. It seems like everyone but Lal is pretty relevant at the end.
Title: Re: What is considered canon in Alpha Centauri?
Post by: Yitzi on January 11, 2015, 12:38:49 AM
SMAC RPG
-This would be a good way to get people to be more active. (looking at you, BU)
I really don't have a solid opinion of Roleplayers, though. So if that isn't the kind of attention we want...

I think that the sort of roleplayer who'd be willing to learn a new game with probably fairly simple rules will probably be the sort of person whom we would want.  The bad sort (munchkins and so on) would probably not be so interested.
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