Last questions about canon

[MysticWind]

1. What are the main profiles everyone uses for the characters?
2. Why are the ranks of the characters on the Firaxis site profiles different from the ones mentioned by Michael Ely? I also noticed that their titles (Lal is Commissioner instead of Governor) is different in the game from the books.
3. Besides the game and Michael Ely’s online episodes and books, what else makes up the storyline for SMAC?
4. Why is Prokhor’s last name different?
5. I think the site might have some old materials. For some reason, the graphics for some factions are different. Does anyone know why?

[Mark123jansen]

1. not sure,
2. Commisioner is Lal's faction title, while Governor is the title he gets after being elected Planetary Governor,
3. The Interludes during the game.
4. Zakharov, Provost Prokhor Zakharov.
5. Beta-versions.

[Senethro]

The canon in SMAC is quite ambiguous. Its quite difficult to work out just what happens to all the factions. It looks to me like Sparta is destroyed in a war with Gaia, humanity transcends using a plan developed by Zakharov, Miriam vanishes in a teleporter accident, the Hive is conspicuous by its absence, the rebellions (SMACX factions) never play a pivotal role in Planet's history and Morgan's dreams of a plutocratic Imperial Planet never come to fruition.

[Alex]

Zakharov used to be Saratov in the first chapters of "Journey to Centauri", but feedback from some russian fans (according to Michael Ely) dictated the name change.

[Mark123jansen]

Originally posted by Senethro
The canon in SMAC is quite ambiguous. Its quite difficult to work out just what happens to all the factions. It looks to me like Sparta is destroyed in a war with Gaia, humanity transcends using a plan developed by Zakharov, Miriam vanishes in a teleporter accident, the Hive is conspicuous by its absence, the rebellions (SMACX factions) never play a pivotal role in Planet's history and Morgan's dreams of a plutocratic Imperial Planet never come to fruition.

Ah yes, I would love for Ely to work out "our secret war" someday

[WotanAnubis]

Originally posted by Senethro
humanity transcends using a plan developed by Zakharov,

But while Zakharov probably builds the Voice of Planet, it is heavily implied that the Gaians actually Transcend first - after all, the Gaian "Conversations with Planet" follows the Book of Planet Interludes pretty closely.

[Mark123jansen]

Maybe a Gaian University Alliance, with University technology and Gaian empaths?

[WotanAnubis]

Originally posted by Mark123jansen
Maybe a Gaian University Alliance, with University technology and Gaian empaths?

Unlikely.

"Let the Gaians preach their silly religion, but one way or the other..." etc. etc.

I don't think Zhakarov was prepared to play happy families after the Gaian mindworm boils overrran Lab 3.

[MysticWind]

Originally posted by Mark123jansen
2. Commisioner is Lal's faction title, while Governor is the title he gets after being elected Planetary Governor,

That isn’t what I meant. In Michael Ely’s books, Lal’s title is Governor. He’s always been listed as Commissioner elsewhere, and in-game. I’ve also found that he was named Brother.

Also, is Prokhov’s real title Provst or Academician? I tend to go with what it says on the game box and in-game. Also, in the book Morgan’s title is Director, but he’s always been CEO in the game.

There's weird little discrepencies like that. It's also weird that Lal is somehow second in command in the story, but in the faction profile on the Firaxis site he's listed as chief of surgery and so on. Also, Santiago was listed as chief of security, even though in the storyline she was just a subordinate of Yang.

By the way, what does everyone think of the Michael Ely works? I've only read Arrival and Centauri Dawn. The main issue I had with Arrival is that Santiago instantly becomes the agressor, somewhat villainous faction. I would have liked it if Unity broke up because of everyone, not just her.

[Commy]

I will try to be as accurate as I possibly can...but I will accept corrections, for I would really like to know the truth myself...

1. If you are talking about the backgrounds of the characters, this is what I know...just keep in mind that the characters were orginally chosen to run the mission as a team, not as separate factions...

Deirdre-apparently she was a legendary biologist that did work with genetically modified organisms, I think some 3rd world plants or something...anyway, for her work, she gained respect and the UN decided she was good enough to help terraform the new planet...

Yang-He was a soldier at heart, participated in Chinese wars, and became head of security...he was supposedly captured by Santiago, and somehow escaped, don't remember exactly how though...

Zakhorav-Military engineer from Russia...while the storyline doesn't make it quite clear, I am assuming that the UN was backed by either Western Europe or the US...and due to warfare or economic collapse, this backer fell, and Russia was forced to finish the project...Zakhorav even insults the parts of the ship created by other nations besides Russia, so Russia obviously was not originally supposed to create the Unity.

Morgan-Apparently due to civil unrest, a company owning some diamond mines fell and Morgan armed a small force and took over the mines...he then sold them and made his own company...supposedly, he even started a hotel chain for criminals and other fugitives...made some good cash. Anyway, when the backer fell, and Russia had to make the Unity, Russia didn't have the money, so several private industries picked up the tab...Morgans diamond company was one of, if not the, largest backers. As they say, money takes you places, and with some extra cash, Morgan unnofficially arranged for himself to be cryo freezed and shipped off to Centauri...

Miriam-Supposedly a church leader in the "Christian United States", she was assigned as Psych Leader of the ship...

Santiago-really she was not that importan at all on the ship, but one of her hispanic friends hacked the system so that she could wake up before everyone else and assemble her own faction...

Lal-assigned as the UN rep of the ship, he was kind of like the civilian leader with Captain garland as the military leader...only leader that I know of that was at some point married

Aki-Zeta-don't understand this too well, but Zakhorav apparently made her and wanted her on the ship, or something...some places indicate she was made by Zakhorav after they reached Centauri

The Pirate man (can't spell the name)-He apparently was just another person kind of like Santiago-not important, but decided to go rogue and make his own faction...

Domai-from Australia, he was made as a drone...chemicals apparently screwed up his mind so that he wouldn't accept the chemicals or machinery or whatever that made him a drone...since he was no longer mind controlled, he led other drones into a rebellion and apparently stole a colony pod...

Roze-Again, not important, but apparently used to work for Morgan...she called up the "underground", a network of computer geeks, who supposedly hacked computers to make them "dissapear" and then they took their own colony pod, similiar to domai...I think she was part of the help desk at one of Morgans hotels, but don't quote me on that...

Cha Dawn-found by some crazy gaian freaks out in the wilderness as a baby...mindworms didn't eat him, so the people thought him as special and treated him like a god, and so he grew up to believe it and become a prophet of planet

[Commy]

2. The reason why the ranks for faction leaders is different in the profiles and different in the game is because they represent different time frames...

The profiles that you see on the Internet are before the factions all split up..for example...

Morgan is a director on the Internet, because the Internet reflects when he was on the ship...at the time, he was a franchise holder, a money backer, and thought he had power over the ship, unofficially, of course...

Ultimately, this is very confusing, because Internet sources, the books, and the game all are different...however, I can help for certain differences...

Zakhorav is an Academician in all his quotes because that is how he sees himself, but others call him provost because that's what they see him as...same thing for Lal, commisioner in quotes, title as brother...mostly because the "titles" used in quotes seemed most appropriate, but the game designers felt that those weren't real titles, so they made secondary titles...Academician, they felt, wasn't a good title...they used it in the quotes, but not for diplomacy...making sense, probably not...sorry

It's one of those things you understand and discover on your own, its kind of hard to explain, but then again, there are probably many interpretations...so, make your own decisions...

[Commy]

3. I'm going to skip this one...

4. Originally he was supposed to be called Saratov, but as said early, Russians came back and clamed that wasn't a real Russian last name, I think it was actually a first name...for Americans, it would be like calling someone Bob Ryan...Ryan being used as a last name just isn't right, because it is a first name...so they changed it to Zakhorav...

5. If you look around in the computer files for SMAC, you will find that some of them are never used in the game and are actually previous versions that were considered to be used in SMAC, but never made it...most are a lot worse, but a few are better...however, I don't know if this is what the problem is, as said early, it could very well be beta-testing or a previous version...

As far as who transcends, chances are it was really no one single faction, and ultimately, it doesn't matter, because they probably could all transcend...

Zakhorav, chances are, built the Voice of Planet, and Transcended before anyone else but the gaians...quotes and other sources show evidence that the Gaians were the first to Transcend...

[Alex]

what about that colony pod that explodes in the intro movie? was it a faction? or just a random pod no one used to land on the planet?

[WotanAnubis]

Originally posted by Alex
what about that colony pod that explodes in the intro movie? was it a faction? or just a random pod no one used to land on the planet?

No, I think that was the Unity displaying a nice sense of dramatic irony. I'm pretty sure of it, in fact.

[Illuminatus]

Re: Last questions about canon

Originally posted by MysticWind
1. What are the main profiles everyone uses for the characters?
2. Why are the ranks of the characters on the Firaxis site profiles different from the ones mentioned by Michael Ely? I also noticed that their titles (Lal is Commissioner instead of Governor) is different in the game from the books.
3. Besides the game and Michael Ely’s online episodes and books, what else makes up the storyline for SMAC?
4. Why is Prokhor’s last name different?
5. I think the site might have some old materials. For some reason, the graphics for some factions are different. Does anyone know why?

1. I use Firaxis and GURPS profile, combined with quotes and other information from game. Since some parts of canon are unclear or in contradiction, it depends on author to decide what is the truth.
2. I haven't read the books, but from what I heard from SMACers who read it they seem to disagree with Ely's vision. Namely, they think most of ideas are so cliche and not creative or imaginative. I'll trust that Ely modified some of canon. I don't consider his books canon in any part.
3. There is *no* storyline. There are hints how to reconstruct storyline, but key parts of it are deliberately hidden.
4. Russian fans complained his name is not realistic. Googling for Saratov returns with the name of a province.
5. Site has not been updated and I thank Markos and Dan (forum owners) for it. Most of materials are from time before the SMAC was tuned before the release. It also contains some really interesting bits.