The FOFC Enigma Puzzle #2

[enigma]

Puzzle #2

The first arrived, and all was well.
I looked to the stars, and found others like me.
They were not pleased, so I unleashed hell.
In the end, they all bent knee.

The second came forth, would it beat the best?
Alas, its predecessor may still be the king.
Defending my empire, it gave me no rest.
Even so, I did it, and the heavens did sing.

Many years later, the third reared its head.
Would it pass the test, would it be a hit?
Problems came forth, many wished they were dead.
A pity, this really was a complete pile of shit.

.

But the story does not end right there.
This fight would be moved to our own soil.
Like a storm they came, rending the earth bare.
Bring the war to them we did, their plans wered foiled.

Many lives were lost in this noble fight.
Their forces kept coming, we had no chance.
The nations, damned cowards, they hid in fright.
Finally, off world, we stopped the advance.

.

One final hint here, for it's bad ideas I sow.
We start centuries ago, a neverending saga in time.
A lone soldier we had, a peasant in tow.
Conquer the world, is that such a crime?

.

If you've gotten this far, odds are you're lost.
You let me guess #1 first, and now you're in doubt.
A hint I'll give you, free of cost.
The answer to my clues is indeed the odd one out.

[VPI97]

The first arrived, and all was well.
I looked to the stars, and found others like me.
They were not pleased, so I unleashed hell.
In the end, they all bent knee.

The second came forth, would it beat the best?
Alas, its predecessor may still be the king.
Defending my empire, it gave me no rest.
Even so, I did it, and the heavens did sing.

Many years later, the third reared its head.
Would it pass the test, would it be a hit?
Problems came forth, many wished they were dead.
A pity, this really was a complete pile of shit.
Sounds like a commentary about the Godfather trilogy...

[Dutch]

I'm thinking Yoda and the first Star Wars Trilogy and now the 2nd trilogy...

[Buzzbee]

Movie references? A director perhaps?

[QuikSand]

My first thought was totally different... but I have yet to come up with a good password out of it.

Nice puzzle, thoough, especially for such short turnaround.

[Franklinnoble]

Eh... my guess is it's either a movie series or a software series.... but I've exhausted five guesses on it...

[digamma]

One final hint here, for it's bad ideas I sow.
We start centuries ago, a neverending saga in time.
A lone soldier we had, a peasant in tow.
Conquer the world, is that such a crime?
Civilization, anyone?

Though I can't get that to be a password.

[enigma]

Likely headed out tonight, just wanted to check in.

Some of you are indeed on the right track.

[bhlloy]

Has anyone got this yet? I was sure I had this one but apparently not the right answer...

[TazFTW]

I'm thinking Yoda and the first Star Wars Trilogy and now the 2nd trilogy...


I'm thinking the same thing about Star Wars. The first 3 are the oringinal trilogy, the next 2 are the prequels, with the last one sounding like Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic.

[Maple Leafs]

It's clearly a trilogy of some sort -- movies, games, literature. There may even be more installments than three. The first two were good, the third one sucked.

There are many, many series that could fit the pattern -- Godfather, Star Wars, Aliens, Mad Max, etc.

What I'm struggling with is the last line... it seems like the password is the "odd one out", not the name of the actual series.

[Danny]

This is a time where that waiting 15 minutes after 5 failed log in attempts sucks.

[enigma]

And the hint for the morning. Each section of the riddle is referring to an independant, but related thing.

The first section is a trilogy.

The second section is referring to one thing.

The third is also referring to one other thing.

The final section is merely telling you what to look for when you figure out the answers to the above. There is a common thread between all the answers, minus the 'odd one out'.

I'll also say that the theme of the answers has been said by someone here already, and there is a correct answer to one of the items floating in this thread as well, but only one.

[Maple Leafs]

Puzzle #2
I looked to the stars, and found others like me.
He's speaking in first-person here, which suggests either a game, or that he's referring to a specific character (or actor?)

As for finding others like him... an online game maybe?

[Coffee Warlord]

But the story does not end right there.
This fight would be moved to our own soil.
Like a storm they came, rending the earth bare.
Bring the war to them we did, their plans wered foiled.

Many lives were lost in this noble fight.
Their forces kept coming, we had no chance.
The nations, damned cowards, they hid in fright.
Finally, off world, we stopped the advance.



You know....that kinda sounds like X-Com.

Edit: I'm with digamma on Civ up there, too. First part has totally lost me, though.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Puzzle #2

The first arrived, and all was well.
I looked to the stars, and found others like me.
They were not pleased, so I unleashed hell.
In the end, they all bent knee.

The second came forth, would it beat the best?
Alas, its predecessor may still be the king.
Defending my empire, it gave me no rest.
Even so, I did it, and the heavens did sing.

Many years later, the third reared its head.
Would it pass the test, would it be a hit?
Problems came forth, many wished they were dead.
A pity, this really was a complete pile of shit.


I think the whole thing has to do with software, so I'll work under that notion.

The above suggests to me that the original game came out, and after its success, there were a lot of "copycat" games. Then an expansion pack was released, and it made the game far better than any of the imitations. I'm not sure what series that could be, though.

[Brillig]

I'd guess the first is Master of Orion, the second is X-Com, the third is Civilization.

All Microprose classics, so which one is the odd one out?

X-Com is not a traditional 4X game, the others are.

iirc, MOO has tactical combat, as does X-Com, but Civ does not.

Civ was a Sid Meier project, but X-Com and MOO were not.

MOO was developed by SimTex, while the other two were in-house at Microprose.

Civ is historical, the other two are sci-fi.

So far, I have no idea which is the odd one out, since I can come up with a good case for any of them...

[enigma]

You're now very, VERY close.

Keep in mind, you're finding an odd thing thing out among 5 titles, not 3. And the title of the game is NOT the answer.

[Maple Leafs]

I think my wife has played Civ. Other than that, I know nothing about those games.

So I'm going to say that I will not be the next Enigma.

[enigma]

I'd guess the first is Master of Orion, the second is X-Com, the third is Civilization.

All Microprose classics, so which one is the odd one out?

X-Com is not a traditional 4X game, the others are.

iirc, MOO has tactical combat, as does X-Com, but Civ does not.

Civ was a Sid Meier project, but X-Com and MOO were not.

MOO was developed by SimTex, while the other two were in-house at Microprose.

Civ is historical, the other two are sci-fi.

So far, I have no idea which is the odd one out, since I can come up with a good case for any of them...

you were so close, and yet too slow
the tragic third was the odd man out
stick to the wabe, for what's below
will make you want to scream and shout
















The answer was: The designer of MOO3, quicksilver

[Pumpy Tudors]

I don't see the connection, but congrats to whoever got it.

[Maple Leafs]

Congrats to the winner.

Can someone post an explanation for those of who don't know the games?

[enigma]

MOO3 was made by Quicksilver - all the other games, MOO, MOO2, X-COM and Civ were Microprose products.

Although actually it's a bit off. MOO was a SimTex development, Microprose was the publisher of the other four, not the developer, while the publisher of MOO3 was actually Infogrames, I think. Close enough for a puzzle though.

[Maple Leafs]

OK, got it.

And MOO is some sort of cow simulator, I'm guessing?

[jeff061]

Master Of the Orion

Personally never played any of them.

[QuikSand]

And MOO is some sort of cow simulator, I'm guessing?

Nice.