Alpha Centauri 2

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri & Alien Crossfire => The Theory of Everything => Topic started by: JMN4444 on July 06, 2018, 09:13:58 AM

Title: Favorite Secret Project Video
Post by: JMN4444 on July 06, 2018, 09:13:58 AM

So we all know that Secret Projects are the Wonders of the Alpha Centauri world, and they are pretty damn awesome once you complete it. The question is, what could stand out the most among the others?

Mine would be The Self-Aware Colony and The Longevity Vaccine.

THE SELF AWARE COLONY
The Self-Aware Colony shows a pretty damn good job in what society would be like if it were ruled by something and not a someone. When we talk about this something, we are talking about Artificial Intelligence. This is clearly evident in the Secret Project as this Artificial Intelligence gains the ability of Ubiquitous Law Enforcement. We see first some sort of colony where we see completely nobody in the streets. Judging from the lights, we can presume that the colony is under some sort of Curfew. We then hear ;miriam; muttering out "We must Dissent" while we see some folks trying to run for something. Then we see a big graffiti of the very same muttering that Sister Miriam makes. As the folks try to run away, they are mercilessly trapped and zapped by the colony itself. In-game, we see ;miriam; as psychopathic when dealing with unbelievers. However, this Secret Project makes her seem more sane than the rest of the faction leaders, as she then says line while the colony cleans up the remains:

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"

THE LONGEVITY VACCINE
On the bright side, Alpha Centauri can also give each of the faction Leaders some sort of personality of their own as well, and in that regard, we have this video. We can see that despite the numerous mind worms and other ideologies that exist that try to threaten them, it seems that the Morganites can actually find light through it all. They even had their own Planetary cable (MorganTv) with a seemingly vast amount of channels. In the video, we can see some sort of mansion interior, a South Park parody of ;morgan; and ;lal;, and the interview for the Secret Project itself. This is then followed by a line that ;morgan; quotes:

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"

What are your personal preferences in what Secret Project has the best video ;)?

Title: Re: Favorite Secret Project Video
Post by: Geo on July 06, 2018, 05:11:54 PM

Oh, the Living Refinery is a good one for me.

Title: Re: Favorite Secret Project Video
Post by: Misanthrope on July 09, 2018, 03:49:17 AM

DEF Loving two of them especially.

The Telepathic Matrix:
Just poetry, pure and simple.  It's like love spelled in as few words as possible.  Seriously, I cry when I see it.

Cloudbase Academy:
Sure the physics are messed, but is still fun to watch! :D

Title: Re: Favorite Secret Project Video
Post by: PvtHudson on July 10, 2018, 11:44:52 AM

The hardest choice! Almost all SMAX SP movies are memorable art pieces. I voted The Nano Factory for its grim visuals and unrivalled The Self-Aware Colony for its suspense, of course. Also close were: The Hunter-Seeker Algorithm / The Nethack Terminus pair for its in-style animation, The Citizens' Defense Force for its atmosphere, The Planetary Datalinks for its message, The Supercollider for its cinematography, The Ascent to Transcendence and The Theory of Everything for their scale, and The Telepathic Matrix for its beauty.
The Cyborg Factory and The Dream Twister share honorary prize for best quote - at opposite ends, humour and chilling terror.
By the way, it seems secret projects are not so much secret, as we receive notifications about their start/progress even during commlink outages. Better call them super projects.
Please correct spelling error - The Xenoempathy Dome, not Drone.

Title: Re: Favorite Secret Project Video
Post by: JMN4444 on July 14, 2018, 08:40:46 AM

Quote from: PvtHudson on July 10, 2018, 11:44:52 AM

Please correct spelling error - The Xenoempathy Dome, not Drone.

Ah, thanks for noticing that :-[. Must've been a typo from all the crap I've entered in the poll :P.

Title: Re: Favorite Secret Project Video
Post by: bvanevery on July 15, 2018, 06:08:30 PM

I'm having trouble remembering some of the late game videos, because I've had videos turned off for a long time, partly for fear of them crashing my game on my ancient Windows 10 laptops.  Kinda driver funky.

Yang's sticky needle cord person in The Virtual World is my favorite motif of SMAC.

The Longevity Vaccine wins the comedy hour!  Watching Lal get beat up is precious.

A runner up for comedy is The Network Backbone.  Is that the one where Morgan says they're not a monopoly, they simply make products so good, that nobody feels a need to compete with them?  Priceless swipe at the Microsoft of that era.  How the mighty have fallen.  "Where Do You Want Your Node Today?"

Title: Re: Favorite Secret Project Video
Post by: Geo on July 29, 2018, 10:33:14 AM

Quote from: bvanevery on July 15, 2018, 06:08:30 PM

A runner up for comedy is The Network Backbone.  Is that the one where Morgan says they're not a monopoly, they simply make products so good, that nobody feels a need to compete with them?  Priceless swipe at the Microsoft of that era.  How the mighty have fallen.  "Where Do You Want Your Node Today?"

Yeah, that's the one.
I like the black&white - color comparisons of various faction HQ's in the video.

Title: Re: Favorite Secret Project Video
Post by: Green1 on July 29, 2018, 12:11:18 PM

I agree on The Self Aware Colony. Miriam is actually the somewhat sane one when you have people genetically engineering a working class, having A Is enforcing laws, and other Orwellian shenanigans.

Sad thing is it rings somewhat true today. There are facial recognition cameras at airports and train and bus stations. There are automatic license plate readers on police cars and traffic poles that can issue out tickets if you are late paying car insurance in some cities.

China drug tests its sewage so they know where to stake out and raid enforcing their draconian drug laws.

Scary stuff.