Quotes2.txt

On my computer and all of my backup discs, I keep a very interesting text file full of varius quotes and sentences lifted from the internet. Here's a good one I found about one man's victory over the one of the very hard difficulties in Space empires IV.

One of my sickest/best moments came in Space Empires IV. There's a setting in this game which, once you get to a certain strength, makes all the AI players turn muderous towards you and they'll all declare war, even the most passive pushovers in it. This setting is known as the Evil Mega Empire and when I first started playing, I'd get constantly decimated by this. I'm a passive kind of guy in these kinds of games, not at all a warmonger, but this had stirred the beast in me and Space Empires IV was just about to see what an evil, mega Emperor I could be. Enter Operation Götterdämmerung.

I suppose Operation Sneaky Bastard would have been a more appropriate title but it's not quite as snappy as the other one. What I did was get a lot of colonies and research everything as quickly as possible while maintaining the shittiest little defense fleet in existence. Getting resources was a must as well. To other races, I looked like a total pacifist, easy meat for the stronger empires in the galaxy. And so I would have been, if it were not for the fact that I was pulling the political strings in the background. The 4 main races had been at war with each other ever since my Intelligence industries started popping up all over the colonies. My idea was to keep them pouring resources into their war efforts while I'd gain a distinct advantage. Terrorism, false communiques, general assholery done in the name of others. Of course, I made sure I was everyone's friend as well, usually stiffing myself in trades just to keep the others happy because, hey, what could the puny humans do? The answer was a few small ships given the design name, "Valkyrie".

After I was satisfied with my research and galactic intrigues, the empire's emphasis turned towards making the biggest and baddest fleet around. This course of action would put me on a collision course with every other race but, at this point, I was relishing the fight to come. Being the baddest wasn't much of a problem as my research far outstripped my enemies, my problem with the Evil Mega Empire setting was that absolutely everyone was against you. Singularly, I usually had the largest fleet but facing every other empire and their resources, the sheer weight of numbers would eventually prevail. This was the whole reasoning behind Götterdämmerung, if I could destroy the main sources of the enemy's war machine before they knew what was happening, I could then crush them.

As the inevitable war drew closer, off went my little Valkyries, deep into the heart of enemy territory with a few other ships to act as guards for it. Of course, the enemy had no idea it was happening, my ships were cloaked and for some...curious reason, every attempt to research cloaking scanners had been sabotagued. The enemy was more concerned with the fleet gathering at it's borders. They reach breaking point and declare war. Then they see that in their home galaxies and other critical points, small ships with a small convoy have appeared. They try and intercept with what meagre forces they have; most ships have been sent to the front. Too little, too late. The convoys holds them off. The Valkyries execute the task they were assigned to, Operation Götterdämmerung. I put on the 1812 Overture, for added effect.

And then enemy watches as, across the universe, suns go supernova and obliterate everything.

Billions die. Research grinds to a halt. Resource gaining collapses and economies collapse. As a consequence, no new reinforcements come along to keep pressurising my forces. I laugh a maniacal laugh. My intel has a field day, causing anarchy in places, plagues, droughts, Biblical scale events. Rains of death from the sky visit the enemy's worlds as my ship attacks anything that isn't mine. If I'm an Evil Mega Empire, I'm not going to do things half arsed. Surrender was offered on several occasions but I don't accept. They can keep their poxy little empires but they are going to suffer some more humiliation.

After they all accept their subjugation, I decide that I will leave an everlasting monument to the glory of humans. In the old heartland of an enemy's empire, I restore all the shattered worlds with my own people and then restart the sun which had been the ruin of them. This wasn't because I was feeling guilty for my warcrimes, I just needed one to power my Sphereworlds. These things are pretty useless, costing enormous resources for little gain. What they do serve though, is to tell everyone that you have the biggest space penis in the universe and building one on the ruins of a fallen foe makes you, I think, a truly Evil Mega Empire.

I like the idea of bieng able to do this in games, not enough of them now let you.