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Alpha Centauri Quotes: Intro and Tech's 0-24

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3 HN users recommended this video3 months2016–2020 score 3.5
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026

HN fans share it as a way to hear the game's philosophical, sci-fi quotes in sequence.

Audio clips of the intro and technology quotes from the 1999 strategy game Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, in male and female voices, covering techs 0 through 24.

“I find them to be timeless, and quite heady when listened to in sequence.” (HN, 2019)

1 strong recommendations · 2 recommendations · 1 citations · Other

4 Hacker News comments

From the HN archive; up to 20 kept per video, favoring different commenters. Recommendations first.

@kyuudou Apr 2020 Strongly recommends
on HN thread The Collective Body: Russian experiments in life after death
Read more
The special projects videos in that game are some of the best science fiction creative work ever made, IMO. Also, something I still think is predictive and sends chills up my neck, "as the Americans painfully learned in Earth's final century" (presumably the 21st): [link] Text of the whole spoken: "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 lose 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." -- Commissioner Pravin Lal, "U.N. Declaration of Rights"" All special projects video text, starting with 0-24: [this video] Cutscene vids start here: [link] Although a bit dated, I still don't see this kind of intellectual quality in most games. Paradox Interactive's Stellaris is about the closest thing to a spiritual successor to SMAC, but it's also its own beast and next-gen 4X.
Special project videos are some of the best sci-fi creative work
@alchemism Dec 2019 Recommends
on HN thread Paean to Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (2016)
Some thoughtful sorts put all of them into a series of YouTube segments. I find them to be timeless, and quite heady when listened to in sequence. [this video]
Timeless, heady game quotes best heard in sequence
@duxup Oct 2020 Recommends
on HN thread Sid Meier's Memoir
Some how Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri was a 4x game that had one of the most interesting stories / atmospheres in video game history, even if it was just from a few clips and quotes. [this video]
Clips and quotes give one of gaming's most interesting atmospheres

Citations, criticism and jokes

@civilian May 2016 Cites it
on HN thread Civilization 6 is coming in October, with big changes
Yeah it did. You can find the technology quotes on youtube: [this video] > “He held his arm too stiffly, and so was thrown back repeatedly, until at last I seized his forearm and snapped it back against itself. His training suffered while the arm healed, of course, but I felt this was a lesson he must learn early, and well.” I know that my brother had difficulty with this quote. The mental image of someone's arm being jui-jitsu'd off is pretty powerful. My brother would click "OKAY" as fast as possible to avoid listening to the quote.
Tech quotes from the game available on YouTube

Video list and Hacker News comment labels from HackerTube (prompted by @karpathy), released under ODC-By 1.0, built on the open-index/hacker-news archive. Hacker News data is provided by Y Combinator; comments remain the work of their authors. Video titles, channel names and thumbnails belong to their creators and are shown via YouTube. HackerTube Watch is an unofficial edition. Data export of 2026-10-31.

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