Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

[MithrandirOlorin]

Only Civilization game I've played is II. I still have my CD of it, but it won't install on my new Laptop which really annoys me.

If you have a beefy enough new laptop and some old XP install media and licence you can install a Windows XP virtual machine on it to get the game going.
https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

My LapTop has less then 500 GB, so it's not top rate of one.

[ORCACommander]

hard drive capacity has very little to do with performance.

the trifecta of performance is RAM speed, CPU Spec and GPU spec

[Shuboy07]

The game's opening mystery, Who killed Captain Garland... is never solved and apparently doesn't have an answer

That was answered in the ebook prequel that was published on the SMAC website. The murderer was a crewmember who firmly believed mankind was going to make the exact same mistakes as before once they had landed.

[MithrandirOlorin]

hard drive capacity has very little to do with performance.

the trifecta of performance is RAM speed, CPU Spec and GPU spec

And I have no idea what those words mean.

[StrangeDevice]

And as the game progresses it just keeps getting darker. hell my favorite secret project is The Singularity Inductor (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB46XpnwhrA). In Civ the grand projects inspired you, made you feel like you've accomplished something. With this game, some of them just feel like "Just what the hell did I just unleash here".

I think it's because unlike Civilization, there isn't a readily seen endgame in sight. The moment when your colony or refinery becomes self-aware is a real mind-broadening experience, there's so many ways that this can be used to your advantage and so many ways it can go terribly wrong.

And then of course, you have nightmarish ideas like the Dream Twister. Imagine if you will, ladies and gentlemen, a weapon that does not allow your enemy the simple luxury of sleep. Ever.

[The Romulan Republic]

The game's opening mystery, Who killed Captain Garland... is never solved and apparently doesn't have an answer

That was answered in the ebook prequel that was published on the SMAC website. The murderer was a crewmember who firmly believed mankind was going to make the exact same mistakes as before once they had landed.

And hey, it looks like they were right, though that doesn't really excuse the murder (which kind of falls under "the exact same mistakes as before".

More and more it seems that hypocrisy is the theme of this game.

[Rothide]

And as the game progresses it just keeps getting darker. hell my favorite secret project is The Singularity Inductor (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB46XpnwhrA). In Civ the grand projects inspired you, made you feel like you've accomplished something. With this game, some of them just feel like "Just what the hell did I just unleash here".

I think it's because unlike Civilization, there isn't a readily seen endgame in sight. The moment when your colony or refinery becomes self-aware is a real mind-broadening experience, there's so many ways that this can be used to your advantage and so many ways it can go terribly wrong.

And then of course, you have nightmarish ideas like the Dream Twister. Imagine if you will, ladies and gentlemen, a weapon that does not allow your enemy the simple luxury of sleep. Ever.

Mary had a little lamb
Little lamb, little lamb
Mary had a little lamb
Whose fleece was white
as snow

-- Assassin's Redoubt,
Final Transmission

[PerrySimm]

I'll admit to being a sandbox kind of player. I like peaceful factions and big cities.

Miriam is one of the only leaders in Crossfire who is implied to be Dead by the Expansion

Now that's a bit of lore I didn't pick up on. Not surprised, really. I never had SMAX until I got the dollar-store version off GOG... "Dunno who these Nautilus Pirates are, but they sure do make a splash!"

Personally I was always a University of Planet guy, because SCIENCE!

I favour University too. After this, Gaians, UN, and the Spartans. I have to say I'm surprised to see the general opinion on Skye, Santiago, and especially Morgan .

I spend more time playing Yang and Miriam than I play Morgan. Why is it that when I play him, I can never field an army, but when he's off on his own he's all over me like crushed styrofoam? But I suppose I can see how such a state, benignly run, could be highly efficient.

According to better players than I, hypocrite Deidre is the best way to play. Drill boreholes, blast fungus, and convert all the incoming mindworms with your +2 Planet.

[StrangeDevice]

The game's opening mystery, Who killed Captain Garland... is never solved and apparently doesn't have an answer

That was answered in the ebook prequel that was published on the SMAC website. The murderer was a crewmember who firmly believed mankind was going to make the exact same mistakes as before once they had landed.

And hey, it looks like they were right, though that doesn't really excuse the murder (which kind of falls under "the exact same mistakes as before".

More and more it seems that hypocrisy is the theme of this game.

Nature of the human condition, isn't it? One of the first things you learn in history is that even if they know it's bad for them, people keep doing the same damn thing. Otherwise, Yang's group wouldn't have gotten off the ground in the first place, nor Morgan's considering what is his ideology did to Earth.

According to better players than I, hypocrite Deidre is the best way to play. Drill boreholes, blast fungus, and convert all the incoming mindworms with your +2 Planet.

Well, she is a militant environmentalist...

"We come in peace, shoot to kill, shoot to kill, shoot to kill..."

[SuccubusYuri]

I dunno, IS Yang's ideology wrong? I mean from the pure practicality of it all. Because centralized planning and "group before individual' is gaining a lot of traction around the globe right now.