posted 06-01-99 03:16 PM ET     

1) Why is it that occasionally I have a rocky square with a mine and a road and the damn thing only produces 2 minerals. The rules tell me that it should be producing 4. Furthermore, there are these black rings around the mineral icon that seem to indicate that I should be making four instead of two. This sometimes occurs with the other resources as well. Can anybody shed some light on this?

2) In Multiplayer, will there ever be a feature put in place that would allow a human player to leave (essentially abdicate to AI) the game and then later return to the game as the faction he left. Essentially, I would like to be able to add human players during the multiplayer game.

3) Are Rivers worth +1 Energy? I believe they are, but this isn't indicated anywhere in any rulebook, datalinks, or gaming guide.

4) Why can I not research a technology that I KNOW I have all the pre-requisites for. It doesn't appear in the list of available technologies that I can choose for my next advancement. Usually it comes up after I research something else, but according to all the rules that I have read I should be able to research the technology after I have all the pre-reqs.

Thanks in advance for any replies. I am certain I will have more questions for this thread.

posted 06-01-99 03:42 PM ET            

Answers:

1) You can only get two of any resource from any square until you research one of the three different techs that allow you to get more. I'd have to look them up, but I think the one for nutrients is Gene Splicing.

An exception to this are squares with special resources. You can get up to 7 minerals from a rocky, mineral resources square with mine and road even before getting the right tech.

Yes, the black outline is telling you that there are more of the resource available.

2) That would be a nice feature. I was talking to a fellow SMACer this weekend and he said that he had found something that would allow him to do that, but I couldn't find it.

3) Yes, rivers are worth +1 energy. It's there somewhere, I can't remember now how I found out.

4) SMAC will randomly leave out some of the techs that you could research, even if you have Blind Research Off. It's just a feature of the game.

posted 06-01-99 03:43 PM ET            

Question 2 - I don't know. It would be nice.

Question 3 - Rivers are indeed worth +1 Energy.

Question 4 - There is a (somewhat) random factor in the 'pick next research Advance' screen. So, sometimes SMAC won't allow you to pick that advance even though you have all the requisite specs for a particular advance. This is just as in Civ.

posted 06-01-99 03:55 PM ET            

Without certain advance techs you will produce a maximum of 2 of each resource in a square.
Gene splicing - lifts Nutrient restrictions
Environmentl Economics - lifts Energy restrictions
Ecological Engineering- lifts Mineral requirements
The black circles are telling you that you could be earning more when the techs are learned.

2) Ihave not heard of a feature to do that.

3) Yes they are.

4) There is a certain amount of Randomness in the offerings. At least from what I have seen

Hope this helps.

posted 06-01-99 04:14 PM ET         

I have another question, as I promised. What is the Nutrient/Mineral/Energy ratings for the forest improvement. Furthermore, do these numbers act as bonuses to any default resources that may be gathered in the square or does to forest improvement simply produce it's amount and thats all.

I have indeed played all the Civ's since the beginning and I know that the randomness in the tech advances exists in the other Civ's. I guess I don't have to like it. It's somewhat disappointing to work towards a tech goal and have your path randomnly blocked for no reason other than the game decided you were unlucky.

I believe that will be the end of my questions for a while. Thanks again!

posted 06-01-99 04:21 PM ET            

Forest ignore all tile rockiness and wetness for resources it produces. A forest tile will gain resource bonuses due to special resources in that tile.

Forests yeild 1F-2M-1E base. If the city that is working it has a Tree Farm, that turns into 2F-2M-1E. If it has a Hybrid Forest, then all forest tiles are worth base 3F-2M-2E to it.

posted 06-01-99 04:47 PM ET            

To elaborate on Darkstar's answer regarding forests. The base amounts he listed are correct. In addition, the bonus (nut,min,energy) tiles will yield +2 for each of those resources up to, and beyond, the current tech restriction. Rivers will add an additional energy, again up to the current tech restriction.