the Voices of Civilization

[chrissifniotis]

This poll and thread concerns both Civilization IV and Civilization V.

Recently the nerd in me took over the computer and I stumbled into the sounds and quotes from Civilization V. I got to listen to a few and then it got me going to finding the quotes from Civilization IV. Then I had a wicked idea; wouldn't it be awesome to have a playlist of some of the best monologues from both games? Being a Civ nerd and history fan boy, of course I said hell yea, but it then got me thinking about who has been the better narrator for the game.
So I put it to you, I'm going to make a playlist on my machine which currently has ALL the quotes and monologues from Civilization IV, Beyond the Sword, Civilization V and all the DLCs. I'll add Baba Yetu and Nimoy's 'In the Beginning' monologue to start and then a variety of quotes from all games with all three voiceover actors, using a variety of quotes from Civ4 and Civ5, from techs and wonders, leader monologues and era quotes, and quotes from the DLCs.
Every so often I'll change the poll as I compile the playlist and see about putting it upon the net for the community.
---
Current Playlist...

Baba Yetu
In the Beginning... (Civilization IV Start Game Introduction)
-
Who Causes the Sun to Rise and the Nile to Flow (Egypt)
Feed Him For a Lifetime (Fishing)
If Ever a Mortal Would Hear the Word of God (Hanging Gardens)
You Can't Direct the Wind (Sailing)
-Classical-
the Envy of All the Lesser Civilizations (Rome)
My Name is Ozymandius, King of Kings (Construction)
Ah Kantenal Shall Came (Chichen Itza)
I Have Gained This by Philosophy (Philosophy)
-Polynesia-
An Empire as Great - or Even Greater Than - than That of Rome (Arabia)
The Beaurucracy is Expanding (Civil Service)
Every Human Thought (Notre Dame)
He Has Achieved Perfection (Engineering)
-Renaissance-
Muskets Against Spearman (Songhai)
A Kind Word and a Gun (Gunpowder)
A Solitary Tear (Taj Mahal)
Will Deserve Neiher (Liberalism)
-the New World-
Two Things are Needed (Big Ben)
I am Become Death (Fission)
Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor (Statue of Liberty)
A Bon-Fire Under Her Deck? (Steam Power)
-Modern-
Plans Are Useless (Pentagon)
We Do Not Inheret the Earth (Ecology)
Lost (Sydney Opera House)
Beep (Satellites)
-Future-
Better Tomorrow (Future Tech)
-Victory-

 

[Louis XXIV]

The guy in BtS was Sid Meier.

 

[chrissifniotis]

"Oh (bleep)! In Hungarian." - James May

 

[KaiserKevin]

Hearing Sid Meier's voice contrast with Nimoy's made me want to scrape out my brain through my ears with a spoon, there just no comparison, Sid has such a crappy voice.

The scruffy old man voice in V is ok, but the quotes are just not what they used to be, there so much repetition of phrases it piss me off. Everything/one new is 'upstarts' all diplomacy is 'cunning' all merchants are 'shrewd'. The tech quotes reek of repetition too. '3 things are...blahblahblah' or 'He who...blahblahblah' And don't get me started on how many quotes there are about the 'press' with techs not even related to it at all! 'The press is the best instrument for enlightening the mind of man, and here's a cho-ko-nu to destroy everything that stands in your way.' zzz

Additionally the quotes in V lack diversity, almost all come from western sources, and multiple quotes come from the same damn person. Granted I admire Einstein but his quotes simply don't compare with Nietzsche or Confucius. Probably because of this there is a lack of witty or humorous quotes, the only one being from JPGetty and Einstein's kissing one, neither of them being knee-slappers. Heck the only quote that I waa like 'ya, I'm glad i got this tech just to hear the quote' is for Steel, with the reading from 'Ballad of John Henry,' brings back memories.

Anyone notice the direct contradiction of quotes from IV and V? IV said 'hammer your iron while hot,' the V one said 'Do not wait til the iron is hot but rather make it hot by striking.' I find Nimoy's argument more persuasive and his dialogue has generally more depth than V. Anyway, that's why I voted for Nimoy.

 

[Louis XXIV]

Yeah, Morgan Shepard is fine, but the quotes aren't as good. I do like the Holmes quote, though (I find a great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, but in what direction we are moving). I think there are a couple others, but they're in the minority.

 

[Camikaze]

Moderator Action: I edited Sid into the poll.

 

[danieladler]

Live long and prosper!!!

 

[moysturfurmer]

When I hear Sid Meier I think "this isn't the right voice for this game what is going on"
When I hear Spock I think "oh hey it's spock"
When I hear Sheppard I think "hey I don't recognize this guy from anything I'm free to associate his voice with the game and not Star Trek"

 

[chrissifniotis]

Thanks Camikaze for the poll, and thanks to everyone who's so far taken the time to vote and reply. At this stage it is a pretty even split between the two actors; the only certain thing is that Sid ought to stick with making games.

My personal preferance is Sheppard for mostly the same reasons as to moysturfurmer, Nimoy is still the Vulcan everyone knows, Sheppard has a really awesome voice for narration, even if the narration itself isn't so great.

Now I'll be heading back to work before heading home, play a bit of CivV, CivRev on the side and check in CivWorld; essentially praising our lord Sid.

 

[Ravellion]

When I hear Sid Meier I think "this isn't the right voice for this game what is going on"
When I hear Spock I think "oh hey it's spock"
When I hear Sheppard I think "hey I don't recognize this guy from anything I'm free to associate his voice with the game and not Star Trek"

I couldn't have better said it myself. So I won't.

 

[SemperFi2382]

When I hear Sid Meier I think "this isn't the right voice for this game what is going on"
When I hear Spock I think "oh hey it's spock"
When I hear Sheppard I think "hey I don't recognize this guy from anything I'm free to associate his voice with the game and not Star Trek"

When I hear Morgan Sheppard, I almost thought it was Liam Neeson. So, I think it is a tie between Sheppard and Nimoy.

 

[Nebular]

Leonard Nimoy if for nothing else than hearing him quote Sputnik's "Beep. Beep. Beep." after researching Satellites.

 

[Beef Hammer]

They should get Morgan Freeman for Civ 6

 

[Truthy]

My favorite was Leonard Nimoy.

 

[Valbuena]

Leonard Nimoy if for nothing else than hearing him quote Sputnik's "Beep. Beep. Beep." after researching Satellites.

lool

They should get Morgan Freeman for Civ 6

that could work

 

[jtb1127]

I like Nemoy the best. Sid's voice was a little screwed up there in bts. They should have had Nemoy do it a second time for a few more quotes but I don't mind it too much.

 

[Truthy]

They should get Morgan Freeman for Civ 6

Sounds good with me.

 

[randallman]

When I hear Sid Meier I think "this isn't the right voice for this game what is going on"
When I hear Spock I think "oh hey it's spock"
When I hear Sheppard I think "hey I don't recognize this guy from anything I'm free to associate his voice with the game and not Star Trek"

Actually, Morgan Sheppard was in star trek as well :0 I recognized it nearly immediately on my first game. I know that Star Trek VI wasnt the 'best' in the series by any sense of the word, but...

From IMDB... I really only remembered the 1st one where he was a Klingon Commander.

EDIT added link to pic:

http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/File:Klingon_commandant,_William_Morgan_Sheppard.jpg

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Klingon Commander (as W. Morgan Sheppard)

Star Trek: The Next Generation (TV series)
Dr. Ira Graves
– The Schizoid Man (1989) … Dr. Ira Graves (as W. Morgan Sheppard)

Star Trek: Voyager (TV series)
Qatai
– Bliss (1999) … Qatai (as W. Morgan Sheppard)

Star Trek [the new movie]
Vulcan Science Minister (uncredited)

 

[SammyKhalifa]

People in the Civ audience are naturally predisposed to saying they like Nimoy better even before they hear the end result.

 

[Akka]

I don't really see what people like in Nimoy. I found his voice rather boring and often silly, and compeltely lacking in emotion.
Sid's one is nothing to write home for, but at least it flowed better and was a bit more energetic.