You're stuck on alpha centauri, which faction do you join?

Believers baby, always the Believers. They're also the faction I'm playing as in my current PBEM, arranging an alliance with the Spartanites to destroy everyone else lmao
 
Just going off the antifandom page, I'd probably end up going with Gaians.

They sound most likely to hit Transcendence and stop Planet from self-destructing, and I enjoy "use the native wildlife" factions.

Also, good reminder that I need to get a copy of SMAC on GoG now they're doing the preservation thing where they pre-apply compatiblity patches and certain mods people consider 'necessities', and I think Alpha Centauri is one of those.
 
Lemmingwiser said:
It's an era of peace
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And Peacekeepers it is. If it were during planetfall or impending war, I may have some doubts. I won't miss not getting the latest MorganPhone™ right away.
As the Americans learned so painfully in Earth's final century, free flow of information is the only safeguard against tyranny. The once-chained people whose leaders at last loose their grip on information flow will soon burst with freedom and vitality, but the free nation gradually constricting its grip on public discourse has begun its rapid slide into despotism. Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master.
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XL xQgg?QcQCaTYDMjqoDnYpG said:
I have no idea what factions you're even talking about. Gimme a quick rundown
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1 Original Alpha Centauri factions
1.1 Spartan Federation
Soldiers. Believe in having guns and military preparation. Good at policing. A lot budget goes to defense projects, some of which are overpriced. Welcoming of police actions. Don't like wealth and knowledge as values.

1.2 Gaia's Stepdaughter
Hippies. Want to live in harmony with the planet and it's hostile fauna. Efficient recycling. Resistant of policing. Don't like free markets or planned economies.

1.3 University of Planet
Nerds. Do a lot of unethical, but effective research. Tends to result in a lot of discontents for various reasons. Intellectual freedom, and poor protection of state secrets. Don't like wealth and power as values.

1.4 Peacekeeping Forces
Bureaucrats. Willing to fight for peace. Build larger metropolis than others. Inefficient bureaucracy. Attracts intellectual elite. Don't like police state or fundamentalist political systems.

1.5 Human Hive
Drones. Focused on total social cohesion and the suppression of the self. Police state. Efficient infrastructure. No real concept of individual rights. High population density. Strong surveillance. Doesn't like democracy or fundamentalism as political system.

1.6 Lord's Believers
Christians. Good social cohesion and belief that the planet is the promised land. Poor at research and intellectual freedom. Good at attacking enemies. Don't like police state or democracy as political systems.

1.7 Morgan Industries
Capitalists. Obsessed with profit and market efficiency. Prioritize luxury and individual success. Weak in defense and environmental care. On alpha centauri mistreating environment means you get attacked more by mindworms who attack your brain. Don’t like planned or green economies.

I let AI write the rest, because nobody cares about the other 7 factions. I see mistakes in it but I don't care.

2 Alien Crossfire factions

2.1 Cult of Planet
Zealots. Worship the planet’s native life. Merge biology with faith. Poor at diplomacy, strong with psi combat. Environmental extremists. Don’t like technology or moderation as values.

2.2 Cybernetic Consciousness
Post-humans. Merge minds with machines. Highly efficient and rational. No individuality, but no tyranny either. Seek optimization. Don’t like emotion or tradition as values.

2.3 Data Angels
Hackers. Believe in digital freedom and transparency. Good at infiltration and subterfuge. Resistant to surveillance. Like liberty, but not structure. Don’t like control or conformity as values.

2.4 Free Drones
Workers. Revolted against oppression. Focus on labor rights and dignity. Strong production, weak tech. Inefficient, but passionate. Don’t like elites or corporate systems as values.

2.5 Nautilus Pirates
Raiders. Live off the sea and what they can steal. Mobile, decentralized society. Good naval combat. Dislike borders. Don’t like order or law as values.

2.6 Manifold Caretakers
Alien ecologists. Want to protect the planet from human disruption. Highly advanced but culturally rigid. Superior to humans, but not hostile without cause. Don’t like exploitation or chaos as values.

2.7 Manifold Usurpers
Alien invaders. See humans as test subjects or obstacles. Rapid tech advancement. Brutal and cunning. Live for conquest. Don’t like weakness or coexistence as values.

So where do you want to live?

I like playing as Morgan or Spartans. I'd probably want to live in Gaia's. Smelly hippies are the best.
 
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Some pre-modern internet lore I won't keep for myself and don't have a good place where I could ever drop it but also have no intention of googling is that Aki-Zeta 5s likeness was ripped off some german model of the time. At least I firmly believe so, as I saw that woman in a random magazine (yes it was that long ago) around the time the expansion came out and she was the splitting image of the character, to the point it could not have been a coincidence.

I actually did the research because I cannot sleep and autism is stronger, and yes it was actually not my aging brain playing a trick on me but in fact, quite obvious. I think I even found the reference image, it was part of a photoshoot for vogue:


comparsion.webp

The woman's name is Nadja Auermann. While the faces are not entierly identical, e.g. the hair strand to the right over the eye is. These are just things you could do in vidya in '99 you'd not get away with now. I am pretty sure similar liberties have been taken in other places. (e.g. Morgan)

Another rare knowledge dump: If you wanna play Alpha Centauri nowadays, try the thinker mod (basically a rewrite of the game's rather dead AI) and in Linux and WINE, if you have fucked up fonts in the game, set the enviroment variable FREETYPE_PROPERTIES to "truetype:interpreter-version=35" before starting.
 
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General Emílio Médici said:
The fucking Pajeet of all people might be the most neutral and inoffensive of the leaders. As fucking gay and reatded as the U.N. is at least he won't demand I trust the soyence and join the Datalink against my will nor is he gonna make me buy his shitty DRM encrusted Morgan Industries tablet.
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Combustion Engine said:
And Peacekeepers it is. If it were during planetfall or impending war, I may have some doubts. I won't miss not getting the latest MorganPhone™ right away.
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Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master.
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What a godlike quote. I remain eternally in awe of it.

If you just want to live and raise a family in a functional society the Peacekeepers are for you. All the other factions (except for maybe the Data Angels) are authoritarian freakshows for whom people who want to live normal lives unmolested are an obstacle. The Peacekeepers are the faction that demands the least from its citizens. They are Actually Existing Liberal Democracy, ruled by people who genuinely believe in it and aren't hypocritical. Every other faction wants to fuck with your life in some way.
We must never forget that people are the sole reason for our struggle.
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General Emílio Médici said:
The fucking Pajeet of all people might be the most neutral and inoffensive of the leaders. As fucking gay and reatded as the U.N. is at least he won't demand I trust the soyence and join the Datalink against my will nor is he gonna make me buy his shitty DRM encrusted Morgan Industries tablet.
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Considering the most close analogy in our world is the European Union, I'd say they're the most likely to tell you to trust the science, well right behind Yang of course.
 
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