I have gone legit

[bvanevery]

I have used the GOG version of SMAC for many years now.  I never paid for it, because I bought the game twice back in the day.  I didn't feel like I should have to pay anyone for the game ever again.  I went through many years of playing SMAC, then becoming disgusted with it, then deleting it, so I wouldn't play it anymore.  At least for awhile, say another year, until I'd succumb to the urge again.  If one doesn't actually own a digital copy of a game, then it's easy to get rid of in this manner.  Not quite as thorough as the more classic method of snapping the CD in half between the fingers, which is how those original 2 purchases ended.  I didn't want to own the game because then, I'd probably not want to delete it again.

Things have long since changed now.  When I embarked upon the SMACX AI Growth mod, I pretty much committed myself to a permanent relationship with the game.  Also I've come to realize that GoG has performed a value added service, they've made the game work on modern machines without fuss.  I've found myself recommending to people, "Just try the GoG version, see if problems go away."  Often they do.

Finally, the game is on sale this weekend for $1.19 USD!  So I bit.  I feel positively embarrassed that I've put so much development effort into extending the longevity of such a cheap game.  I really need to get on with making my own title.

[Geo]

In SMAC(X) we trust!

[Arcturus Mensk]

I did this too, except I lost former hard copies moving from one place to another. I finally had spending money and bammo! GOG copy, and the dank smell of piracy is gone...

[Geo]

"Svensgaard would turn over in his grave! Not only plays Arcturus at dice, the dice arrrr loaded."

[bvanevery]

Svensgaard has never sounded like a pirate to me.  He sounds like an English major wearing a sweater.  He doesn't sound like Captain Nemo either.  I think he is the most useless of all the voice acting.

[PvtHudson]

In the future of mankind there will be new, gentle pirates, with degrees in crisis management and business logistics. To me the least believable voice actor is Yuri Nesterov, our good old ship drunkard Prokhor Zakharov (bvanevery, please note how it's written). Too young, not authoritative enough.

[bvanevery]

I've actually thought about redoing the voice acting for several of these characters.  I have no experience at it, but I do have a belief that I might in fact be good at it.  I've started up a rather preliminary learning curve.  I'm making no promises.  What I would get out of the exercise, is proof of concept that I can actually provide the voice acting for my own games.

I seriously object to the voice of Cha Dawn.  That's a female voice, and much to my surprise years later, I found out the character is male.  They completely blew the idea that this is a boy.

Replacing voice acting would also mean replacing various quotes in the tech tree that IMO, aren't interesting and don't add to the game.  This is of course going to be a matter of opinion, but I think there's a fair amount of filler in there.  It really makes me wonder just how difficult or easy coming up with the written material really is, or the voice acting afterwards.  Doesn't exactly seem like a lot of content to me.

[Vidsek]

I have been disgruntled with some of the VA and blurbs as well.  And have been tempted to learn how to up grade them.  My mom was an English teacher (and Navy officer) so the writing and editing is second nature, the voice acting I can work out, within the limits of my body. 
  If you are actively working on a project like this, let me know.  I'll help however I can.


Oh, have we gone so far off the thread topic that this discusion should be a new, separate thread?

[bvanevery]

Pretty much.  The blurbs thread is better for VA issues for now.