r/alphacentauri

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Its been a while since ive played them

Normally I'm a builder. Recently played pirates and gaians

When you think about the Aversions of the factions, they actually leave a ton of room for wacky combinations. For instance, you can have Fundamentalist Peacekeepers, or Democratic Believers, the ever-popular game-winning Green Morganites, and even stuff that basically contradicts their established aversion like Wealth Gaians/Free Market Spartans/Free Market Cultists. Of course, a lot of that stuff is soft-locked not by the aversion system, but simply because they would make for terrible choices game mechanics-wise, dooming your play-through.

Regardless, it's still pretty fun to imagine, as the fanfic novella "Joe" by Alinestra Covelia did, with the vendettatime Data Angels choosing Police State-

>The prop was sporting a fetching series of bruises on his left cheekbone today. Not only that, but Joe was reliably told that his knuckles had been specially hardened with many hours of striking a synthetic wooden wall. Soon, the prop confided, he would gradate onto using a stone wall, and then finally a polymetal wall in order to render his knuckle bones dense and lethal. Pity the poor policeman who came across the prop on a stormy night. They may have taken up residence in his cafe, but they could never take his freedom etc. > >Joe smiled wanly and nodded. The speech, it would appear, was less for his own education than for the gratification of the three unfriendly-looking police officers watching the entrance and occupants. They appeared young and green - they all sported short, aggressive haircuts, but each had the look of imbecilic confidence that only the harrowings of experience can erase. Joe could see that each man was substantially built under the armor, but it did not lessen his doubts as to their battleworthiness. Joe had seen the Hiverian soldiers, and what they had been capable of. > >There had been widespread panic only a few hours before, when the datanodes relayed the alarming news of the Hiverian move northwards. So far, the fleet had been unchallenged, but any vessels found in international waters had been boarded and their crews detained. Back at home, the domestic riots had been swiftly quelled by General Rowlings, and the curfew even more strictly enforced. Evidently, the investment in tear gas and glue guns had paid off - people could hardly appear to be dignified martyrs when they were immobilized and stacked like kelpfish. Strange how the methods of the police became that much more efficient when the threat of death was removed. > >Joe sat down at the net let and connected using M/MI, aware that the guards were logging this even now, and that his every move online would be tracked by DataKnave technology.

Note how the society has its own unique spin to oppression- the Angels are both unused to such authoritarian behavior, yet innovate with technological solutions. Skimming the story again, it's interesting how it starts with the Data Angels first creating a rudimentary law enforcement force at all, then later are forced into the choice so that the faction is able to fight against the Human Hive, the apotheosis of Police State. The path of creeping totalitarianism, Nietzsche's saw about those who fight monsters beware, etc., etc. And so forth:

>"I would like to draw your attention now to the findings of our own probes in democratic, peace-loving Iphiclia. These stills show the law enforcers dealing with undesirable individuals through the use of tear gas and batons. The transgressors in this incident were those who failed to produce adequate personal identification under Clause 208." > >The crowd reaction was mixed, ranging from nonchalant disinterest on the part of the Hive and University, to hurried consultation amongst the Peacekeepers, to outright indignation amongst the Gaians. > >"Another startling facet of the progressive fledgling democracy is shown in its militia. This is a holovid of the RapCafe Blue - a haven for seekers of freeflow of information, as well as freeflow of cheap ethanol. Note the twelve soldiers standing guard in the foyer - these soldiers are not paying for their rent, for the DataTech Interior has ruled a state of emergency and demanded that the citizenry give the army their full support. Evidently the DataTech have grasped a fundamentally sound and workable social order that has functioned smoothly alongside them for decades. Unfortunately for you, Commissioner, this social order is a Police State, and we the Hive are the example they have chosen to follow." > >Lal interrupted testily. "Regardless of the dubious veracity of your claims, Mr Berzhinev, even you cannot deny that the DataTech have had adequate reason - courtesy of your faction's aggression - to adopt this regrettable political order. The bridge to democracy is a steep and fragile one, even with support from the international community. When a young democracy meets with a brutal dictatorship intent on subjugation such as yours, one cannot fault them for a political slip in the interests of self-preservation."

So how might any of other unlikely, perhaps darkly ironic, or perhaps just funny, unexpected Social Engineering choices might look?

Edit: I just realized the AC Wiki is wrong; it claims that the Data Angels' Aversion is Police State when it's actually Power.

Also, in "Joe" the Hive chooses Green Economics:

>"The Hive lives underground," continued Hu in a bland tone, "as you will see in your tour of our bases later this week. We do not have space or atmosphere to squander, and as such, our lifestyles have gradually become both more spartan in its luxuries, and more conscientious in its consumption." > >McClelland's screen showed up various images of the Hive cramped internal structures: meeting rooms, feeding bays, sleeping rooms, cleansing rooms. All seemed clean, though there was no denying their claustrophobic limits. > >"The Hive cannot afford waste and pollution. And it is with a sense of surprise that we find ourselves adopting interests very similar to your own, Mister McClelland. Preservation of the environment, and care for the surrounding ecology. Although," here Hu smiled thinly and sipped his water. "I must admit, our reasons are somewhat less noble than yours. We adopt a Green practice through the interests of self-preservation, not world-preservation... but I believe that our ends are convergent and similar."

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United kingdom: +2 economy +2 research , -1 police, -1 efficiency

Lose efficiency points for debate , lose of police points for liberalism and democracy , high economy due to finance center.

Naval units free support and shildbuilding facility also have bonus.

Japan : +2 planet, +2 efficiency, + 1 police, -1 growth + 1 or 2 support

Green economy and strong work ethic , police for highly ordered society， lose points for population growth. Public Support for military also part of culture.

China: +1 economy, +2 industry, +2 police, -1 planet, -1 growth

High manufacturing power and police state, bad pollution and growth. Terraform upgrade and facility building also faster because building experts.

USA +3 economy commerce, +1 industry, + 2 research +1 growth, -2 police

Growth from immigration, free talent every 5 citizen due to attracting skilled worker. Farm and nutrirnts has extra yield though not India level. Air and bombing units have free support or bonus morale.

India: +3 growth, +1 economy , -3 planet, -1 efficiency , +1 research

Positive growth， pollution is bad, efficiency is low because of regional disagreement and burecracy, Good research and more probe team success because IT experts and hacking. Extra nutrient yield because of abundant farmland.

Less drones and unhappiness from overcrowd, can have more citizens before hab complex.

Thats all I can think of for now

So I was playing as pirates on the second highest difficulty iirc.

Anyway all my cities died and turned into colony ships. Late game was getting near ascending.

Reloaded autosave same thing happened..

Quit and started new game random faction. Got pirates again.

Is this a glitch or a pirates thing?

#INTERLUDE21
#xs 500
#caption Epilogue
^ “The latest surveys are in, $TITLE0 $NAME1.”
^ You look up from the reports spread across your desk.
^ “And?”
^ “No coherent activity. Not at the continental scale. Not anymore.”
^ For a moment neither of you speaks.
^ “Very well. Thank you. Dismissed.”
^ And so it is ended. Not with the completion of some vast Secret
Project, nor with a final revelation from laboratories or psi domes, but with the
slow accumulation of a thousand lesser victories. Forest by forest,
continent by continent, the xenofungus has been cut back, burned,
poisoned, buried, isolated, and replaced. 'Former crews have crossed
Planet for generations, following behind surveyors, soldiers, engineers,
agronomists and ecologists, until the great fungal networks that once
stretched across the continents have been broken into scattered remnants.
^ The native life has not vanished. Mindworms still survive in isolated
regions, and patches of xenofungus remain where their destruction would
cost more than their containment. But the global network is gone. The
strange pulses once detected across thousands of kilometers have ceased,
and the great coordinated blooms which increasingly threatened the Human
Zones have dwindled into local ecological disturbances.
^ Whether the Planetmind has been destroyed no one can say. Perhaps it
has merely been crippled. Perhaps some fragment of it still dreams beneath
the remaining fungal beds, awaiting another age in which to grow together
again. If so, that age will not come soon.
^ Not a word has been heard from Earth in all the years since Planetfall,
only a deafening silence across all frequencies. Humanity remains divided
among rival factions, and old disputes over wealth, faith, freedom, power
and knowledge continue unabated. Armies still guard borders. Probe teams
still move in secret. Treaties are signed and broken, and every leader on
Planet continues to dream of a future shaped according to their own ideals.
^ But one looming danger is gone.
^ Humanity did not transcend it. Humanity did not surrender to it. No
single genius solved it, and no final machine saved the species at the last
possible moment. Scientists measured the threat. Engineers devised methods
to contain it. Workers built the machines. Soldiers defended them. 'Former
crews returned year after year to push the fungal frontier farther back.
What could not be solved in a moment was solved through perseverance.
^ The other factions remain a threat. They can be dealt with tomorrow.
^ One problem at a time.

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. You have received the information, now act on it. Take control of the input, and you shall become master of the output.

This game worked for literally years. Fired it up today, and it crashes before the opening graphic even completes. Is there a patch or anything?

Hello Chironians!
I play the gog version of the game through Crossover (with Thinker mode – once again kudos to u/induktio). Works good, but when a secret project video starts playing – the screen turns black, audio is working, and after its finished the screen stuck. UI sounds and game itself are working but the screen is not.

I tried to install windows VLC into SMACX bottle and play videos from it when they appear – but the problem stays the same. VLC opens, audio is working, but an error pops up about incompatible video format.

I would appreciate any help and inputs!
All the best.

How can I tell if I have Thinker mod installed ? I really dont remember if I installed it in the past!? Thanks

What if that funny bit from the Longevity Vaccine video, but a series of shorts?

This is a question I first asked myself about twenty years ago, and I've finally sat down and made a start. It's my first time doing anything like this so it's not the most polished thing ever, but I had a lot of fun! And now I've learned the basics, I'm getting quicker.

Hope you like it! I have scripts for 3 more so watch this space...

How can I get the game to allow automatic tubes and tubes to (location)m I realize it may be an edit to the initial file, but can you give me the specific entry?

For context, im running Alien Crossfire, Release 2.0 from 20 Dev 1999.

Thanks in advance!