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Complaint: Silliness

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Complaint: Silliness

from GalCiv2 Forums
Hi Guys:

I've recently bought and started playing GC2. I really do enjoy it. This is a great game. Yet something irks me: the burdensome amount of silliness in the game.

Between the nerdy in-jokes and references, I feel like GC2 is trying to be more of a farce of itself than an actual true 4X. While I've got a fine sense of humor, for some reason I'm finding it hard to enjoy a game that doesn't seem to take itself at all seriously. And the worst part is the humor itself seems aimed at 14-year-olds. Case in point, the tech description for "miniaturization" -- "in this case, smaller is better" or something like that. Cute... for the eighth grade.

If I could request a MOD, it'd be a "maturity MOD", that treats the player like he/she wants to be immersed in the game's universe, rather than sit and read a series of one-liners. After playing for a half hour, I just zoom through any text/robot advisors/tech descriptions because I half expect them to be childish nonsense or sci-fi geek jokes. It just seems... immature.

And I don't think I'm being (overly) stuffy. Some of the best Sci-Fi/4X games took themselves deadly seriously, like Imperium Galactica 2 or the Descent: Freespace series. Am I totally off-base here, or does anyone else have the same complaint? I am armoring myself for the "remove-stick-from-backside" flame responses. Hell, maybe I deserve them. Thoughts?
35,082 views 109 replies
Reply #26 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
My two favorite Farnsworth quotes:

"No fair, you changed the outcome by measuring it!"

"Choke on that causality!"
Reply #27 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Mebe it is just because i live in Australia, 'the land of the sense of humour'


i thought it was the land of upside down people.
Sins of a Solar Empire II
Reply #28 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Alchohol powers my fuel cells...

I use that one in real life, too
Reply #29 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
That's my personal favorite, I'd love to know if thats what actually happened or the dev's just couldn't think of anything to say! And yes, it will be a very grave day for humanity when a fart is no longer funny!


My favourite quote from Galciv comes from Lord Kona when he has a case of the mondays! hehehe that one got a good laugh outa me. My all time favourite game quote is a serious one tho... compliments of civ 4, one of the civics techs i think? "those who would give up a little freedom for a little security, gain nothing and deserve neither" well im not sure that's exactly how it goes? but anyway, i think it is a very potent quote to be considered in todays world. Here in Australia we are suffocating under the sheer volume of laws relating to safety, i'm sure it will soon be compulsory to wear pillows all over your body to protect from injury,,, every time some idiot gets killed, and the family goes on tv and cries and all that shxt and demand somthing be done, the government caves in every time and makes even more new stupid safety laws, i am totally fed up with it all, it is just getting rediculous!

well, i'm not so sure of that. Did you play Alpha Centauri? the spoken tech descriptions tended to focus on the cultural, political and social impact of the techs through quotes and similar things. it was very well done IMO, and really brought me into the game. much more interesting than technical jargon.


Yes it was well done but once you reach future tech, it starts to become intensly irritating after being repeated for the twentieth time... "eternity lies beyond, and behind, have you drunk your fill" AAAAHHHHGGGG (tears hair out).

i thought it was the land of upside down people.


well that too, see above quote about safety laws!

Reply #30 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
but anyway, i think it is a very potent quote to be considered in todays world. Here in Australia we are suffocating under the sheer volume of laws relating to safety, i'm sure it will soon be compulsory to wear pillows all over your body to protect from injury,,, every time some idiot gets killed, and the family goes on tv and cries and all that shxt and demand somthing be done, the government caves in every time and makes even more new stupid safety laws, i am totally fed up with it all, it is just getting rediculous!


Agreed, it's over the top and ridiculous now. I mean, it's pretty much illegal to make a tier swing or motorized go cart and use it at your own home now, and that's in a non-metropolitan town as well. It's become to 'politically correct' too.. Remember when the Senate stopped Parliamentarians from saying 'G'day mate'? That was a very good showing of just how ridiculous it is. I miss the times when I was little were I could go and play in the snake filled kangaroo infested bush with my neighbor and not have my parents give it a second thought.
Reply #31 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I miss the times when I was little were I could go and play in the snake filled kangaroo infested bush with my neighbor and not have my parents give it a second thought.


I grew up in a country town (Mildura), had my own airifle illegal now, which was endless fun! I also built my own cubby house and eventually caught a poisonous copperhead snake in there and kept it as a pet! If i wasn't doing that, i was off playing in the irrigation channels, stealing fruit, fishing and catching yabbies and lizards. Ah freedom, it is such a precious thing and it has been pissed away in this country by the endless march of the safety brigade.
Reply #32 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
"those who would give up a little freedom for a little security, gain nothing and deserve neither"


it is from civ for but ben franklin was the one who said it.
Reply #33 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
oops, sorry, im away from the threads toppic!
Reply #34 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
it is from civ for but ben franklin was the one who said it.


Absolutely, allot of the civ 4 quotes are from famous people.
Reply #35 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
"those who would give up a little freedom for a little security, gain nothing and deserve neither"


this is what homeland security does
Reply #36 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
this is what homeland security does


Yes a good topic for discussion, but perhaps in a new thread?
Reply #37 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I was a bit disappointed at first about the weird dialogue which didn't help the immersiveness of the game, but I've grown to like it. Especially if you take the sometimes stupid (compared to humans) behaviour of the AI, combined with the funny dialogs it actually creates a consistent world of its own.
And just as you thought you nailed the game again by manipulating wars between every faction, a couple of them surrender to the Thalans, making them the uberfaction which start to destroy my precious starbase-gardens.. Then I take the game very seriously!

I very much like the text of the evil choices of the planetary events:
'How many times do I have to tell you that people are a RENEWABLE resource!'
Or on discovering a device with helpful powers but also potentially harming
if used careless..:
'Boost the machine to MAXIMUM output!'

I usually pick the neutral choices by the way..
Reply #38 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I grew up in a country town (Mildura), had my own airifle illegal now, which was endless fun! I also built my own cubby house and eventually caught a poisonous copperhead snake in there and kept it as a pet! If i wasn't doing that, i was off playing in the irrigation channels, stealing fruit, fishing and catching yabbies and lizards. Ah freedom, it is such a precious thing and it has been pissed away in this country by the endless march of the safety brigade.


Mildura, as in way out in SA, nearer to the WA border? Nice place! Going and catching yabbies is so much fun! They were so good, cut open a milk bottle shove in some bait chuck it in on a line and spend all night at your mates place giddy with anticipation as to what you might catch.. so good! What'd you feed the snake after you caught it mate? Your little bro? That's what I would have done!
Reply #39 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Yes, a more serious style would be cool, but it doesn't fit the rest of the game. Especially taunts such as 'Good work, you cheese-eating surrender monkey!' and other things, like the events where peoples hearts explode. And the ship styles aren't as realistic as they could be. You'd have to put a lot of effort into a mod to change its style.


People's hearts exploding?! When the heck does that happen in GalCiv?!?  

Reply #40 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I think its the event you have to choose about allowing a roller coaster ride to remain open. It improves morale, but peoples hearts explode, lowering the population if I remember correctly.
Reply #41 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
My two favorite Farnsworth quotes:

"No fair, you changed the outcome by measuring it!"

"Choke on that causality!"


yeah, the outcome one is hilarious if you know anything about the uncertainty principle. i also like the quote from the same ep where he clones Qubert and explains that scientists raised the speed of light in the year 2xxx (forget the exact quote).
Reply #42 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
4X games are mentally taxing games so a bit of comic relief is welcomed IMO.
Reply #43 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Mildura, as in way out in SA, nearer to the WA border? Nice place! Going and catching yabbies is so much fun! They were so good, cut open a milk bottle shove in some bait chuck it in on a line and spend all night at your mates place giddy with anticipation as to what you might catch.. so good! What'd you feed the snake after you caught it mate? Your little bro? That's what I would have done!


Actually Mildura is in Victoria on the Murray river, about an hours drive from South Australian Boarder. And catching Yabbies was fun, although sticking my hand down the yabby hole and pulling them out with my bare hand was kinda crazy, but suprisingly i never got bitten!I was scared of nothing except being eaten by a giant Murray cod while swimming, after i saw a newspaper report with a picture of a guy sticking his head and shoulders inside the mouth of a Giant cod he caught near Mildura! That fish could easily have swollowed a small boy if it was so inclined.

Anyway i used to mostly catch yabbies with meat on string - when the line tightens up i know there is a yabby so i slowly pull it in until i see its wiskers and then dive my hand in the water and grab it and quickly fling it on shore before it has a chance to bite me. For you Americans out there, a Yabby is similar to a 'crawfish'.

I fed the snake on grasshoppers and flies, Sadly there was no baby brother available!! lol
Reply #44 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
You mean people actually read those long winded tech descriptions? But I have to admit, some are worthy of a chuckle if you take the time to read them.

Personally, I like the "farts are funny" humor of this game.

Reply #45 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Ah true as, Vic not SA, I should have known better! I know a guy there, Josh in year 10 (dunno which school) has a job as a shelf stacker somewhere. Piece of string aye? nice, that'd work, but then you can't get nearly as many as easily and get a nice feed for brekki in the morning! Well you can but it'd take way longer.. still all good but! Ah, the things that we used to be able to do down here, now you have to live out on a Farm somewhere for your parents to let you do that stuff, my little brother and sister have never got to enjoy being chased by a pissed of mother roo! That's one of the scarier things I've done in life.. don't screw with the mama!
Reply #46 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
don't screw with the mama!


who doesn't know that
Reply #47 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I think my problem is not so much that GalCiv is a self consciously 'funny' game (as has been pointed out humour and sci-fi go together like bacon and maple syrup) but that it is a funny game in an environment oversaturated with funny games. Sometimes knowing winks to the player are cute, but sometimes you want a genuinely immersive experience with the confidence to take itself seriously. Civ 4 suffers from the same problem albeit to a lesser extent. In this context, while Galciv on its own isn't at fault, where are the recent 4x games which eschew silliness?

I would take issue with the earlier posters who think sci-fi and fantasy are 'by definition' silly though. Some of the greatest and most important works of literature, tv and film have been in these genres without poking fun at themselves.
Reply #48 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
More importantly, it is the fact that a good chunk of technology that we take for granted today, was originally conceptualized in the realm of science fiction. Automatic doors at the supermarket, anyone?

I have come to the conclusion that if we can imagine it in the realm of science fiction, we will some day be able to do it...
Reply #49 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I took the time to read in my last game. I was not disapointed. By the way, there are a lot of players here. Some of you should take a look at the MVL for some very interesting games, which will definately change the way you play the game. Trust me its fun. We need some more players.
Reply #50 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
More importantly, it is the fact that a good chunk of technology that we take for granted today, was originally conceptualized in the realm of science fiction.


true, but IMHO you can chalk that up to soft statistical probability. if you take a wide view of what 'technology' means ("systematic treatment of an art"), there are tons of technology in sci fi that haven't been developed, and based on our current knowledge of phsyics and physiology, they won't develop because they're impossible. it's dumb luck that sci fi writers happen to make accurate predictions from time to time. also, when a real technology and a fictional one correspond, often times the real technology's functioning bears little resemblance to how it was described in the fiction.