(Finished) Let's play Galactic Civilizations II! "All the lights in the sky are... ?"

[Cubey]

Welcome! A word of introduction - Galactic Civilizations II is a great 4X space strategy title, made by people at Stardock who are also great. It's so great, that making an LP was only a matter of time. So here we go!

Update list with links:

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Chapter I: It's a New (Endless) Frontier
Chapter II: Asteroid Angst
Chapter III: Wherein Cubey finds himself frustrated and overworked
Chapter IV: How to overuse the word "starbase"
Chapter V: Pick on a homicidal maniac your own size!
Chapter VI: I'm back - short title, long update
Chapter VII: Diplomacy is a hard game
Chapter VIII: War is a dangerous place
Chapter IX: Endless fun in the Korath Korner
Chapter X: Now you're thinking in Bigscale!
Chapter XI: Trying not to make Macross references
Chapter XII: Listen to my song!
Chapter XIII: A great day to be a Spiral
Chapter XIV: Just one year of love...
Chapter XV: I'm on a cultural roll, and rock'n'roll is involved
Chapter XVI: Bet you did (not) see that coming
Chapter XVII: Overwhelming dominance is not always a good thing
Chapter XVIII: This is our last dance!

I'm going to play GalCiv II with its newest expansion, Twilight of the Arnor. It gives you lots of new features compared to the vanilla version, including different research trees for each race and giant Death Terror Stars to destroy whole star systems.

My reports on the LP will jump from IC to OOC with no rhyme or reason other than me feeling like it whatever is more fun for the reader. Expect witty titles for each chapter of the report when I can think of any. Like a wise man once said, "When in doubt, MST3k stuff".

This thread is going to be very image intensive. That's how LPs just go. Also, since this is a Let's Play, then I'm waiting for reader input! If you have advice, comments, or are even masochistic enough to pretend to be a character in the Let's Play (random Joe Schmoe or a minister, whatever goes) then go for it. You people are the lifeblood, I just make updates.

And because I am a fanboy, expect occasional references to stuff I like. Mostly science fiction and anime, especially Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Don't worry, I'll try to keep references rare and the whole thing understandable for everyone.

A list of my loyal advisors, puppet ministers and other disposable flunkies:

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Celesyne: Expressed interest in service and was promptly lost. Located as a colony ship captain some time later. Current status - unknown, but will probably reappear at one point or another.
chiasaur11: Bloodthirsty land forces general. Makes Patton look like Gandhi in comparison. Note to self: never meet in person if there's no one else in the room.
Terraoblivion: Secretary of education. Makes sure unwashed kids become less unwashed. We're dealing with Spirals here so she has a lot of work to do.
kamikasei: Ghost of the Interstellarnet AI. Responsible for all bad things that happen. Yes, even that.
Tavar: Minister of Science. Doesn't trump Leeron in technical genius and fabulousness yet, but he's trying.
Mercenary Pen: Head of Defense Procurement. An independent contractor, his job is to design and provide weapons. I don't know where he gets all the wonderful toys from.
Fri: Brave and very unlucky test pilot. His units have a tendency towards impractical design and being in the worst place at the worst possible time. Has a knack for survival, but that's not a good thing because it means he has to suffer more.
The_Glyphstone: Chief diplomat. Responsible for making first contact with other races and being traumatized by their looks and local customs. How he learns all the alien languages is a mystery, and not a pretty one.
Blayze: Minister of Lasers. FIRE FIRE FIREEEEE!!!
DeafnotDumb: Nobody's really sure of his rank, but he handles weapon testing. Read: if it has enough drills and/or guns, it passes. Favorite test subject: Kif.
Even Human: Just a pilot. Has a greater life expectancy than our local Patrick Colaseur, Fri. More opportunities for promotions, too.
Rettu Skcollob: Former leader of the Mercantile party. Will probably try to stab me in the back and usurp power at the earliest given opportunity. Belongs to the War Party now, and has a fancy hat.
AgentPaper: Also known as Warlord Moustache, a member of the War Party. He's supposed to be a diplomat but judging from his association, I don't really want to know what kind of diplomacy is he doing.
Domochevsky: Chief Necromancer. Raising the dead is impossible so his job is all smoke and mirrors. Also responsible for keeping wounded soldiers alive. I bet he thought his position would be more exciting when he applied.
thefinalbattle: A mecha pilot. Also likes to examine exploding pickles.
Ka-ther "Yaktan" Fangfoot: Another pilot. Hot-blooded but cowardly. Wants to crush enemies using the power of FRIENDSHIP.
Artanis: Minister of Missiles. Likes blowing stuff up, and what else do you need on this position?
Hunter Noventa: A starship captain wannabe. He hopes for something that can turn into a giant robot. It's more likely than you think.
Tengu_temp: As above. Yes, the "temp" is a part of the name.

Kif (doesn't post on the forum): Our army's first line of battle! He's very brave, determined and skillful - all because I told him so. His favorite hobby is not being yelled at by Cubey or chiasaur11. He doesn't have a lot of hobby time.

[Cubey]

Chapter I: It's a New (Endless) Frontier

Hello, universe. Here we are, eagerly waiting for a chance to explore and conquer you. I'm sure you're full of alien races to make friends with... if they're friendly that is. If they're not, we're going to crush them into a pulp! And then make friends with whatever is left. Oh yes.

But first, let's customize what exactly we want our universe to be like. Must be some nice universe, willing to change and adapt if you only tell it to.

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Okay, it's not really a whole universe, only a single galaxy. But we want to keep it BIG. Galaxies are big, right? Well, this one is Immense. That's the biggest possible size in GalCiv II. How big it is? You'll see soon.

I've decided we need as little habitable planets as possible. With the galaxy so giant, that still means they will be all over the place. Same for anomalies. Rare is not so rare when the scale is so large. Eight Minor Races, because we like company (what Minor Races are, I'll explain later in this chapter)... and that's all. The rest of the options is pretty much default. There's an exception, I forgot if I used the setting where the total number of planets is Rare or just Uncommon, if it's the former then it means very few planets, which means even less habitable ones. Ah, we'll manage. Also, I accidentally set up the number of asteroid fields to Abundant, the largest possible quantity. Too late to change now, and besides, what could go wrong?

Famous last words.

Okay, we're all thinking big scale now, Universe and everything, but what about our race? I present to you...

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The Spiral Beings. After Simon freed us from the tyranny of Anti-Spirals, we are finally ready to become part of the larger universe! But the new leader is no one else but yours truly, Cubey. Actually, it was supposed to be Rossiu, but nobody liked him so instead it's me. Like my picture? So handsome. Wait, I'm wearing a fancy space helmet so you can't see my face. Too bad. Admire the Gurren Brigade logo instead. You're going to see it often.

Time for lots of screenshots that will describe what exactly the Spirals as a race are good at.

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Our starships (read: giant robots and whatever else I feel like designing) are powerful, tough and repair quickly. They also hit first before the sluggish enemy has a chance to react. That's Spiral Power for you - don't mess with it. We also research stuff pretty quickly. You can't stop the power of evolution and endless improvement!
And finally, we are Courageous (see the screenie to know what it does), Creative (research finishes before schedule sometimes) and Lucky (nice stuff happens from time to time). These three abilities cost us only 1 point each, out of 15 - so they're total hax, especially the two last ones, which work at random.

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Gotta pick a political party. And there is only one choice for a real guardian of the people! We're the Populists - not just your everyday demagogues, but someone who really, really wants to work for the betterment of the people. And we will! We're going to make everyone happy, and keep everyone safe and protected! The Spirals demand it. Saint Kamina wouldn't have it any other way. And if I try to disagree, he has a punch to set me straight.
It's not the best options mechanics-wise, but hey... I already imbalanced the game enough by choosing Lucky and Creative.

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Starship appearance. Not much to say here - every single Spiral knows what the colors of Gurren Lagann are. Dark red of courage and bright green of Spiral Power!
As for the default style, I'm choosing the Korath. Of course, I'll design my own models, because theirs are ugly. But it's still amusing - the Korath are evil, genocidal and moustache-twirling, and we are almost nauseatingly good. But we'll still kick their collective asses, oh yes we will!

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The tech tree! I have to pick one, or I could make my own one if I wasn't so lazy. Let's go with Torians. They were enslaved by a stronger race but managed to overcome their oppressors with the power of courage and evolution (read: they had good morale and bred quickly), despite not being very smart tech-wise. Sounds familiar? Also, they can build Hot Springs. Hell yeah, I want a hot spring!

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And finally, other races. Let's go with nine - the more the better. I like surprises so I'm letting the universe pick them at random. I just hope we don't run into Torians. That'd be awkward.
The difficulty setting is Tough. It's the most fair one - AI opponents use the smartest scripts, and neither I nor everyone else has an economic boost or handicap. Like the GalCiv forumgoers say: "Tough is tough". But it gives me enough free room to play around a bit rather than min max the hell out of everything in order not to die instantly.


Boring stuff out of the way, let's get to space conquest! Welcome to planet Kamina, Kamina star system!
...

Kamina.

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Wait, is that all we have for a fleet? Three civilian, non-combat ships? What happened with our giant flotilla?
I guess Viral was drunk and crashed it. Or pawned it off somewhere. Damn.

Okay, let's try to do with what we have. There are some features visible, asteroid fields and stuff. I'll describe them in a second. Overall, looks pretty cozy, huh? Home sweet home. But how significant it is on a galactic scale?

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Not very, especially considering how positively humongous our space neighbourhood is. The red dot near the bottom of the map is our sphere of influence. It's nowhere as big as the whole galaxy yet, so we have lots of work to do. Other dots are, obviously, spheres of influence of other, non-Minor races. We know where they are because... we receive their signals? Space travellers? Ancient scriptures? Don't ask me, I'm only the supreme leader!

Enough of large scale maps that make you feel you're tiny and insignificant in a giant uncaring universe. Let's take a look at our beautiful home planet!

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YEAH! A +700% research tile! Whatever building we put up there will generate 8 times the normal of research points. I guess it's ruins of Lordgenome's fortress, the man had some wild tech going on. Kamina is wild and virginal (hee hee, I was waiting to make that joke), surprisingly for a planet that 8 billion people call home. Let's change that and start building something really soon.
Oh yeah, and these green symbols near two of other tiles? They give a +100% farming bonus. Too bad it goes to waste - Kamina can already support 16 billion people and we really don't need more. The more people you have on a planet, the more discontent they are, and once population hits the magical number of 20 billion the Anti-Spirals return everyone becomes sulky and permanently on the verge of rioting. Not really worth the effort.

Time for progress! We must endlessly advance for the betterment of tomorrow. Or in more mundane terms, let's have our eggheads research something.

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32 weeks?! That's way too slow! I'll be old and crippled by the time you're finished! Let's do some supreme ruling around here and improve the situation.

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First, I'm building a research facility on that +700% tile. With our research tree, the basic facility is a... school. Don't laugh. The average Spiral is brave but not really that smart. Did I mention that? No? Well, now you know.
I'm buying it immediately because I need that school built NOW. It costs a bit but I have money to burn... so far at least. Galactic Manufacturing Corp offers the fairest deals - all money paid up front, no additional debts. I'm definitely not dealing with these Mitrosoft folk. They sound shady.

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Second part of my master plan - time to up the production capacity. I want my factories, schools, and everything else I didn't build yet to give out 100% of what they're capable of! Hire more people if you have to! Everyone who slacks off gets a Bright Slap! And a towel, so they don't feel too lost.
I'm also adjusting the tax rate into something that will strike a sensible balance between going broke and my people hating me forever. This balance is a hard thing to strike, and not always possible. I should be grateful that it's possible to maintain for at least one week (read: one turn).

And what do all my efforts result in?

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9 weeks! That's much better! Get to work everyone, maybe I'll manage not to die of old age before you're done.

I improved the situation of my empire without having to do more than move a finger in an authoritarian manner. Being the leader is FUN!

Time to broaden my horizons. Remember when I mentioned features of the Kamina star system? Mostly ugly floating space rocks, but if you look closely you notice that they're actually useful ugly floating space rocks. Take this white, frozen globe for example. It's a planet, and a habitable one to that! Time to send out one of my space vessels, which just happens to be a colony ship.

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Our first colony! Well, it's still the Kamina star system so we're not quite in deep space yet. Also, it's only class 4 (which means it has 4 building tiles available, one of which is automatically used by the capital - by comparison, Kamina is class 10). And since its population is small, it generates little tax money and actually costs me cash, throwing my budget off its stable equilibrium.

But hey, at least we expand! And now I'll have a place to visit if I want a winter vacation.

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Here we have an anomaly. Or to use normal language: floating heap of space junk. Regardless, searching through it might reveal some goodies. That's what ships equipped with scanners are for. Too bad scanners aren't researched yet, but for some reason my flagship already has them. I really can't complain, at least it partially makes up for it not having any guns.
Anomalies appear all over the galaxy in a neverending stream. The flagship will be busy. It's also the best exploration vessel I have for now, so I'll try not to lose it. That, and it's the, y'know. Flag ship.

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An asteroid field! The third of my vessels, a space miner, can construct mining facilities here. They will extract precious materials and beam them over to a planet of my choosing - but the greater the distance between the facility and the planet, the more resources get lost along the way. Still, the industry bonus is quite nifty. I like asteroids, the more I see of them the better.

(Note from my future self: oh, if I knew the irony of this statement at the time...)

So, we did a lot and it's still January 1st, year 2227, if unreliable Spiral calendars are to be believed. Let's send out my spaceships to explore the nearest star systems (visible on the map for my convenience). Well, with the space miner busy and the colony already deployed on Kamina the Second, that's more like one spaceship. But my spaceport is busy constructing... something, so expect to see more Spiral units in the near future.

And what'd you know, just two weeks of focused star exploring later (we're using hyperdrive, so take that relativity and time dilation!), I come across something really interesting!

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A habitable planet. Habitable? Hah, if only - it's already inhabited! It seems I stumbled upon a Minor Race.

Forced exposition:
Minor Races are not as developed as non-Minor ones. While they start with one planet each just like everyone else, they rarely if ever expand to further ones. Their research trees uniformly suck, their racial abilities are pathetic (with the exception of, for some reason, Economics), and they have no representative in the United Planets Council. They're easy to manipulate, intimidate or extort money or tech from. In short, they exist to be used and abused. Or, if you're a nice guy like I will try to be, they exist to be protected but still every once in a while given a deal that's very lucrative for you and not so much for them.
Wake up everyone, the exposition is over!

Who'd expect that intelligent life exists so close to my home planet, in my sphere of influence even! Well, we had genetically created Beastmen before... and the whole Anti-Spiral deal... but that's no reliable evidence! Anyway, apparently these aliens are known as the Jessuins. I'll abuse my position of authority and tell them "take me to your leader", right now.

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Right... sorry, I don't speak Uglyface. Let's research a Universal Translator next.

In the next update - things stop going so smoothly!


Wait, I have a feeling I've already seen a GalCiv II LP whose first part ended with meeting gibberish-talking alie*TRANSMISSION ABORTED*

[Domochevsky]

Hm, consider me interested in this LP. Also: Needs more screenshot explanation.

[chiasaur11]

Just remember:

If you see a race of small, furry rodents...

They can and will kill you if they get the chance.

[Cubey]

Hm, consider me interested in this LP. Also: Needs more screenshot explanation.

Well, I could explain everything that happens on each screenshot, but I figured out it'd be, well, boring. But worry not - I will not leave the players confused, I will explain every visible thing as soon as it becomes important for the game. Like the Hitchhiker's Guide to Galaxy tells us: Don't panic!

Also, pay no attention to the real time clock in the upper right corner. It will never start being important, although if it says "5:30" or some other number like that then it may explain my poor tactical decisions or funny post formatting.

Just remember:

If you see a race of small, furry rodents...

They can and will kill you if they get the chance.

Why do you think I said things stop going smoothly in the next chapter?

[tonberrian]

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What is this "cultural domination"? I wish to know more.

[Cubey]

Cultural domination happens when at least 75% of the map is under your influence. It's kinda tiring, especially on larger maps, but a nice alternative for a "pacifist" run if you don't feel like going for the tech victory.

Culture is a fun thing in GalCiv II. Mining stations and even whole planets can join your side if your cultural influence is greater than the other side's. If you are familiar with Macross, you will like this concept.

EDIT: Ah, the Cultural Domination research item? It allows you to create space station modules that allow for better spread of your culture. I'll describe what exactly space stations do once I actually have one. But they're very useful.

[chiasaur11]

Well, I could explain everything that happens on each screenshot, but I figured out it'd be, well, boring. But worry not - I will not leave the players confused, I will explain every visible thing as soon as it becomes important for the game. Like the Hitchhiker's Guide to Galaxy tells us: Don't panic!

Also, pay no attention to the real time clock in the upper right corner. It will never start being important, although if it says "5:30" or some other number like that then it may explain my poor tactical decisions or funny post formatting.



Why do you think I said things stop going smoothly in the next chapter?

CURSE YOU Tom Francis!

[Malek]

Quick question: How did you activate that Galaxy Map thing? (the one showing globes of influence, I somehow missed that screen).

[IthilanorStPete]

Immense? My gosh, you're a masochist.

Anyways, what propulsion do you have up to? I try to rsch up to either Impulse or Ion Drive (whichever one's better, I forget) to help with the colony rush.

[Cubey]

Quick question: How did you activate that Galaxy Map thing? (the one showing globes of influence, I somehow missed that screen).

Just below the left corner of the map on the main interface you can see a plus and a minus button for resizing it, and also a small insignificant triangle. Click on that triangle.

That option is useful at the start because... well, I think everyone here knows why. If you know where the other civs are, you can start exterminating trading sooner. And in late game, this map looks great for showing areas of influence. It looks almost like a real map. Only in space.

Immense? My gosh, you're a masochist.

Anyways, what propulsion do you have up to? I try to rsch up to either Impulse or Ion Drive (whichever one's better, I forget) to help with the colony rush.

Yeah, I know. But I finished two games on Immense and let me tell you - once you experience the sheer scale of the biggest map, it's hard to get back to smaller ones. I'm planning to work on faster engines as soon as my first crucial techs are all researched, but so far we have only the standard Hyperdrive.

[Mercenary Pen]

Culture is a fun thing in GalCiv II. Mining stations and even whole planets can join your side if your cultural influence is greater than the other side's. If you are familiar with Macross, you will like this concept.

We aren't thinking the episode Viva Miriya are we? (macross saga episode 30)

[Cubey]

We aren't thinking the episode Viva Miriya are we? (macross saga episode 30)

That in particular, since it had a mining station an asteroid factory, but in general I mean the whole of Macross's idea of beating the enemy by out-Culturing them. Now if it worked on units in GalCiv II, and not only colonies and mining bases...

[Mercenary Pen]

That in particular, since it had a mining station an asteroid factory, but in general I mean the whole of Macross's idea of beating the enemy by out-Culturing them. Now if it worked on units in GalCiv II, and not only colonies and mining bases...

Okay, we need to put all our efforts into the development of intergalactic rock stars _{and shapechanging mecha starfighters}

[Nerd-o-rama]

So that's why I kept getting my ass kicked by the Dreadlords in this game. I didn't research Totsugeki Love Heart.

Anyway Cubey, you're a massive dork. Let's see if you have more patience than me.

[Celesyne]

So, since I have no knowledge of this game Whatsoever, what kind of characters are available for us enterprising Playgrounders to be, before I throw my hat (or halo as the case may be) into the ring?

[chiasaur11]

So, since I have no knowledge of this game Whatsoever, what kind of characters are available for us enterprising Playgrounders to be, before I throw my hat (or halo as the case may be) into the ring?

Well, you can name ships, if I remember right.

Been a while.

[Tengu_temp]

So, since I have no knowledge of this game Whatsoever, what kind of characters are available for us enterprising Playgrounders to be, before I throw my hat (or halo as the case may be) into the ring?

You don't actually create any characters in this game. But we can pretend to be ministers of various affairs, ship captains, governors of planets, and other stuff like that. At least that's what I think.

EDIT: And agents. I completely forgot about those. Of course, this is one of the most dangerous positions...

[Brother Oni]

Okay, we need to put all our efforts into the development of intergalactic rock stars _{and shapechanging mecha starfighters}

Developing Guitar Hero style control systems and sticking them on a crash course of Dragonforce "Through the Fire and the Flames" on Expert difficulty may help with their piloting too.

[chiasaur11]

You don't actually create any characters in this game. But we can pretend to be ministers of various affairs, ship captains, governors of planets, and other stuff like that. At least that's what I think.

Well, if Cubey does that a ground based military advisory position would be satisfying.

We'd be doing this one Brannigan style.

[Cubey]

Individual characters don't exist in this game like they do in, for example, X-Com. There's an exception for spies, but they're annonymous and one use only anyway, and you can't name them. But you can be a starship captain if you want, if you do just give me the proposal of your ship's (or giant robot's) name. Just to let you know, I have dibs on the flagship, and it'll be a while before I'll be able to create units that aren't cannon fodder. At least I'll make sure they're awesome cannon fodder.

So yeah, it's mostly a pseudo-forum RP thing. My puppet government is always looking to hire more ministers, advisors, governors, court jesters, etc, especially once we go all Star Democracy. Of course, since it's a puppet government then I have the right to ignore every orders you give to your ministry if I feel like it. Not that I'd ever do such a thing, of course not.

[Terraoblivion]

I claim the role of secretary of education. The children of the poor, unwashed spiral being masses will be properly educated in all the most important fields ever, such as pop cultural history, social history and theoretical physics, no need to waste time on the dull stuff like fine art or engineering.

[kamikasei]

Is there a position going for Ghost in the Interstellarnet AI? Cause that'd be neat.

[Mercenary Pen]

Developing Guitar Hero style control systems and sticking them on a crash course of Dragonforce "Through the Fire and the Flames" on Expert difficulty may help with their piloting too.

Only if you build an electric-guitar shaped super heavy beam cannon, possibly in a similar shape to the main cannon of the Wing Zero mecha from Gundam Wing.

[chiasaur11]

I got command of the army, if it's permissible.

Mechs and ships, someone else's game. I want to order wave upon wave of demented avenger to the slaughter face to face.

[Cubey]

And we have our first members of the staff! Make sure you keep them kids well fed, not forced to drill nuts for sustenance. As for the army, good thing the Spirals have so many Beastmen citizens. They're quite ferocious in a fight. Especially the koala-men. You don't want to mess with these.

No idea what the AI ghost would be supposed to do though. A disembodied advisor?

Finally, as far as super heavy guitar shaped beam cannons are concerned... stop reading my notes! I was supposed to reveal that superweapon after I reach Massive Scale Building, not before.

[Tavar]

I'll be minister of Science, if that's okay. Will try to live up to Leeron's example...

[kamikasei]

No idea what the AI ghost would be supposed to do though. A disembodied advisor?

Or an antagonist, or bored chessmaster, or force of nature. The possibilities are endless when you've a trillion limbs and no body.

[chiasaur11]

Or an antagonist, or bored chessmaster, or force of nature. The possibilities are endless when you've a trillion limbs and no body.

Possibilities that are still right out:

Being better than Durandal.

[Cubey]

Or an antagonist, or bored chessmaster, or force of nature. The possibilities are endless when you've a trillion limbs and no body.

Aha! Now I'll know who to blame for all my misfortunes.
And trust me, there will be things to blame for.

I'll be minister of Science, if that's okay. Will try to live up to Leeron's example...

You mean in technical genius, or in fabulousness? Won't be easy either way.