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I never played Alpha Centauri - I was more of a Master of Magic / Syndicate guy - but your writing about this project makes me wish I hadn't ignored it back in

I never played Alpha Centauri - I was more of a Master of Magic / Syndicate guy - but your writing about this project makes me wish I hadn't ignored it back in the day. Pulling back, I want to say that as I get older and hopefully wiser, the number one quality in a person that draws me to them is their passion for deep cut niche interests, pursued without care of who is watching. Often in spite of who is watching. I don't have any particular interest in cartography or typography, but watching people who are truly, deeply nerdy about a topic is one of the most pure joys. In some ways, it's actually better that I'm not into these things because it allows me to appreciate just how much you are. When I'm choosing who to spend time around, I don't care if you're passionate about the same things as me. I strongly care that you're passionate about something. ^ this is me telling you I despise nihilists without telling you I despise nihilists. Except, well... sorry.

aidenn0 1y ago
I'm passionate about Cracks Call being the bane of an artificer build in MoM. An uncommon, unresistable, insta-kill spell (and it's in the same domain as Web, so flying doesn't help at all).
- peteforde 1y ago
  I somehow only this moment realized that this exists! https://www.slitherine.com/game/master-of-magic https://www.slitherine.com/game/master-of-magic My favourite build-out, which might have been somewhat nerfed in later updates, was to allocate all of my eggs in the Life basket so that you can start the game with Incarnation. In my experience, Torin is a game over win condition.
  - aidenn0 1y ago
    I also only this moment realized that too. Torin can be one-hit-killed with cracks-call as well, so nature wizards are annoying. He is the only one who you can get back with all XP though, since you can just cast incarnation again. Halfling+lionheart+invulnerable is a very good early-game rush on the harder difficulties, as are phantom warriors.
  - sevensor 1y ago
    Oh no! Just when I was finally getting it out of my system, there’s a remake! Cruel. I wonder if you can still get units with negative numbers of figures in them when lionheart wears off. Maybe I need to buy it and find out.
    - simonebrunozzi 1y ago
      The remake is terrible. It looks nice, but the AI is super dumb and it's not fun at all to play it.
      - aidenn0 1y ago
        More dumb than the original AI? That's a fairly high bar.
- simonebrunozzi 1y ago
  Wraith form, my friend. :)
  - aidenn0 1y ago
    TIL. I don't often play death, and when I do, I usually am not an artificer.
_carbyau_ 1y ago
I consider myself a nihilist in the sense of, don't worry about a "legacy", don't compare yourself to the rich and famous, because a blink in the timescale of the universe, it won't matter. The only meaning an action has is in the smaller timescale then. The here and now, and a few years after. Help the people around you, be curious, chase your interests, do cool things. Time is short and for you, it is the only time that matters.
- peteforde 1y ago
  You sound great! But what you're not describing is (formal) nihilism. https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/what-nihilism-is-not/ https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/what-nihilism-is-not/
  - _carbyau_ 1y ago
    I read your link and honestly have NFI what it is trying to say actually IS nihilism. There's a lot of comparisons with various character traits though. My view is more the existential nihilism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihilism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihilism """This view suggests that it is not possible to live a genuinely meaningful life, that there is no higher reason to continue living, and that all efforts, achievements, happiness, and suffering are ultimately pointless""" My first sentence is kind of how I reason that point. There is no "ultimate" reason for being because given sufficient time, any reason you might have, doesn't matter. Then there is my reaction to that: I'm here. So now what? Some people may commit suicide. Some may go on a rampage hurting people. If there is no higher power then I get to choose my purpose in life and no one can say it is any better or worse than anything else to do. So I figure (reasons not shown which may be the more interesting conversation...); live, be nice, be curious, do cool things. I acknowledge my upbringing and privileges are a significant influence on my day-to-day choices too. But so what? If there is no higher power to judge... Hopefully I'll enjoy life - no major complaints so far - which if nothing else, feels nice. I guess you could argue I'm some level of hedonist. But so what if I am?
twoquestions 1y ago
You owe it to yourself to give this a shot if you have the time. I find it less of a Civilization game, more a sci-fi horror novel presented with Civilization mechanics rather than paper, if that makes any sense at all. Play on Civilian and comp-stomp the AI, that way you get to see all the Special Project videos which are really excellent. I really wish they let you see them if someone else gets there first. It's one of the best science fiction stories I've experienced, along with The Last Question (very short) and Outer Wilds (which is some of the most profound 20 hours of solitude I've had).

aidenn0 1y ago

I'm passionate about Cracks Call being the bane of an artificer build in MoM. An uncommon, unresistable, insta-kill spell (and it's in the same domain as Web, so flying doesn't help at all).

peteforde 1y ago
I somehow only this moment realized that this exists! https://www.slitherine.com/game/master-of-magic https://www.slitherine.com/game/master-of-magic My favourite build-out, which might have been somewhat nerfed in later updates, was to allocate all of my eggs in the Life basket so that you can start the game with Incarnation. In my experience, Torin is a game over win condition.
- aidenn0 1y ago
  I also only this moment realized that too. Torin can be one-hit-killed with cracks-call as well, so nature wizards are annoying. He is the only one who you can get back with all XP though, since you can just cast incarnation again. Halfling+lionheart+invulnerable is a very good early-game rush on the harder difficulties, as are phantom warriors.
- sevensor 1y ago
  Oh no! Just when I was finally getting it out of my system, there’s a remake! Cruel. I wonder if you can still get units with negative numbers of figures in them when lionheart wears off. Maybe I need to buy it and find out.
  - simonebrunozzi 1y ago
    The remake is terrible. It looks nice, but the AI is super dumb and it's not fun at all to play it.
    - aidenn0 1y ago
      More dumb than the original AI? That's a fairly high bar.
simonebrunozzi 1y ago
Wraith form, my friend. :)
- aidenn0 1y ago
  TIL. I don't often play death, and when I do, I usually am not an artificer.

_carbyau_ 1y ago

I consider myself a nihilist in the sense of, don't worry about a "legacy", don't compare yourself to the rich and famous, because a blink in the timescale of the universe, it won't matter. The only meaning an action has is in the smaller timescale then. The here and now, and a few years after. Help the people around you, be curious, chase your interests, do cool things. Time is short and for you, it is the only time that matters.

peteforde 1y ago
You sound great! But what you're not describing is (formal) nihilism. https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/what-nihilism-is-not/ https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/what-nihilism-is-not/
- _carbyau_ 1y ago
  I read your link and honestly have NFI what it is trying to say actually IS nihilism. There's a lot of comparisons with various character traits though. My view is more the existential nihilism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihilism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihilism """This view suggests that it is not possible to live a genuinely meaningful life, that there is no higher reason to continue living, and that all efforts, achievements, happiness, and suffering are ultimately pointless""" My first sentence is kind of how I reason that point. There is no "ultimate" reason for being because given sufficient time, any reason you might have, doesn't matter. Then there is my reaction to that: I'm here. So now what? Some people may commit suicide. Some may go on a rampage hurting people. If there is no higher power then I get to choose my purpose in life and no one can say it is any better or worse than anything else to do. So I figure (reasons not shown which may be the more interesting conversation...); live, be nice, be curious, do cool things. I acknowledge my upbringing and privileges are a significant influence on my day-to-day choices too. But so what? If there is no higher power to judge... Hopefully I'll enjoy life - no major complaints so far - which if nothing else, feels nice. I guess you could argue I'm some level of hedonist. But so what if I am?

twoquestions 1y ago

You owe it to yourself to give this a shot if you have the time. I find it less of a Civilization game, more a sci-fi horror novel presented with Civilization mechanics rather than paper, if that makes any sense at all. Play on Civilian and comp-stomp the AI, that way you get to see all the Special Project videos which are really excellent. I really wish they let you see them if someone else gets there first. It's one of the best science fiction stories I've experienced, along with The Last Question (very short) and Outer Wilds (which is some of the most profound 20 hours of solitude I've had).