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Author Topic: Dictionary of Smac, Second Edition

Khan Singh posted 02-17-99 07:57 PM ET
<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>DICTIONARY OF SMAC, SECOND EDITION</TITLE>
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This posting is a compilation of most of the definitions posted to the Dictionary of Smac. The DoS topic started as a thread explaining a few of the terms from the Forums. But posters soon became more creative and started to post entirely new terms describing clever strategies, funny situations or interesting aspects of the game. For a time, all was well. Ideas flourished, minds met, strategies unfurled. A good time was had by all. But, eventually the thread started to get messy and hard to read, and I began this compilation, to clean the topic up a little. 
The definitions have been standardized and alphabetized. A few new entries have been added to describe the major themes in the forums. I have eliminated a number of terms that I judged to be redundant, unclear, or not really very useful. I have also eliminated the entries in the category I call "Things to Yell at Yang When He Craters One of Your Bases". Some of the definitions in this category were funny, but I think people really want to use their own cuss words. I did include one entry from this group("priority one target") because it seemed to be the best and because it had a funny definition. 
The elimination process was, I admit, arbitrary. If you feel you've been robbed by having your entry eliminated, don't waste time arguing about it with me. Just repost it below. After all, what do I know? I can't even get my posts to appear at the right width.
THIS IS AN OPEN TOPIC. We invite new entries from anyone about anything SMAC related. The basic idea is to sum up a complex strategy, important idea, or funny thought in one or two memorable words. With enough bright new ideas this dictionary will go to Third Edition. 
I have no objections to reposting or reprinting this article, but this is a compilation work, and I cannot speak for any of the other contributers.
Special thanks go to toFfGI, who started the Dictionary of Smac topic and gave it its initial impetus, and to all the dictionary posters 
KS.
. 
<HR> A
ATTACK TO DEFEND (tactic) Tactic of defending a base by attacking enemy units moving adjacent to it, before those units can attack. Especially useful against infantry. [ TG: Believers--does anyone actually use them?, Windwolf]
AWAY FROM HOME PENALTY (status) The unrest that results under certain social structures (free market) when troops are out in the field. [TG: Free Market Penalty is too great, ]
<HR> B
BELIEVERS (faction name) Properly "The Lord's Believers." AC faction overseen by Sister Miriam Goodwinson. Her mission is to bring the Lord's Truth to Chiron. AKA: the bible thumpers, the bible bashers, the Monkees (referring to the song 'I'm a Believer and also to Miriam's hair-do) [ed.]
BELIEVER CONTROVERSY (forum discussion) Forum argument over whether or not SMAC's depiction of the Lord's Believers faction is unfair to Fundamentalist Christians. [ed.]
BLACK HOLE DEFENSE (tactic) Tactic used by a hemmed in faction that destroys any unit that enters their territory. [John_Galt]
BLAH (word) The precise meaning of this word is unknown. [TG: Blah SMAC blah blah CIV2 blah!, Outlyr242 the rebirth)
BOX OF CHOCOLATES (terrain feature) A Unity Pod. (You never know what you'll get.) SEE ALSO: CAN OF WORMS. [Civ Term. In this forum, the term originates from tOFfGI]
BREAD AND CIRCUSES (base facilities) Drone reducing facilities [DHE_X2]
BUYING THE WIN Having enough money to buy an Economic Victory in one turn from a standing start. [Lone War]
<HR> C
CANARY (special purpose unit) Unarmed unit used defensively in peacetime to avoid support / unrest penalties. Like the stalking horse, the canary provides early warning of a hostile's intent with minimal investment. (I used Caravans in Civ to block Diplomats, guard borders, etc. Attacking a Caravan guaranteed extinction.) Synonyms: Roman Diplomat, Texas Ranger (both groups used a single, often unarmed diplomat to negotiate, and ruthlessly crushed anyone who harmed him.) [ViVicdi]
CAN OF WORMS (terrain feature) A Unity Pod [Paul Jordan]
CAVIAR UNITS (game option) Units with higher quality graphic icons. [TG: Jeffery Morris]
CHERRY PICKING (strategy) Making a concerted effort to build new bases in "special areas" like Monsoon Jungle, Geothermal Shallows, etc., instead of expanding according to the more orthodox "defensible territory" model. [ViVicdi]
CHECKPOINT (base location) A base built on a CHOKEPOINT to act as a defensive fortress and to prevent enemy movement into your territory. Frequently such a base can also be used as a PANAMA CANAL. [Khan Singh]
CHEMISTRY SET (special purpose units) Large group of nerve gas units [DHE_X2]
CHIRON (proper name) Name of the planet in the Alpha Centauri system that SMAC takes place upon. Chiron is a terrestrial planet with liquid water and has an atmosphere well suited to earth vegetation, but unbreathable by humans. It is warmer than Earth and has a slightly higher gravity. Chiron supports considerable indigenous life. SEE ALSO: PLANET [ed.]
CHOKEPOINT (terrain feature) A narrow neck of land connecting your territory with an enemy's territory. [Khan Singh]
CIV (game) Abbreviation of Civilization (Civilisation). Civilization, and Civilization 2 were the games designed by Sid Meier and Brian Reynolds before FIRAXIS. They are widely regarded as among the best computer games ever made. [ed.]
CLUSTERING (strategy) Cramming bases together & remote mining special resources to dodge inefficiency penalties. {ViVicdi]
CORBOMITE MANEUVER (stratagem) 1. The AI phoning to warn you that their newly developed 1-2-1 Synthmetal Sentinels make their forces "practically invincible". 2. The AI's last pathetic attempt to make peace with you before surrendering. 3. Attempting to make peace from a disadvantageous position. [Khan Singh] "The Hive is overrunning my bases! Unless I can pull off the Corbomite Manuever, I'm finished."
CRATER (action) The action of launching planet busters toward a base, or the action of a base being hit by a planet buster missile. [Q Cubed] 
CRAZY IVAN (action) Sudden shift in diplomatic policy, especially when it's from the always-erratic Russian, Zakharov. [ViVicdi]
<HR> D
DEIRDRE (proper name, faction leader) The definitive pronunciation of Lt. Skye's name is ("DEE-druh, dammit!") [TG: Pronunciation, Brian Reynolds]
DOPING (tactic) Setting Psych allocation > 0 & remote-mining & terraforming enough energy to "dope" the populace into a Golden Age. "With Democracy / Green / Wealth, a 10% psych budget, and a little doping, the Gaians can effect +2 economy in even the most remote bases." [ViVicdi]
<HR> E
EARLY BIRD (status) First to get out needlejets;(alternate) - first to go out pod popping. [Robin of Huntingdon]
EDSEL (special purpose unit) A unit design that was a flop. "(like putting a rover, an impact cannon, red armor, and heavy bombards together) it won't even take out a former. Lol won't build that one again." [cousLee]
EIGHTH FACTION (game concept) All those red flagged mindworms, islands and locusts, basically the planetary consciousness. "I was doing well until the eighth faction snatched my forward bases." [origin unknown, def. by WyldKarde]
ERYTHROPHOBIA (player reaction) Fear of the color red. "All these mindworms are giving me a case of erythrophobia." [via ThRiLL]
EYE OF CHIRON (terrain feature) The little round hole at the top of Mt. Planet. AKA Little Round Top (as opposed to Big Round Top, which is the Garland Crater) [SF: Unknown]
<HR>
F
FACTS ON THE GROUND (tactic) Placing small, uninvested-in cities on desirable territory in order to claim it. "Uranium Flats is over by Yang? I better get some facts on the ground over there!" Support for these cities is planned for later. [ViVicdi]
FIRAXIS (proper name) The fiery axis of creativity. The actual word Firaxis (Fur-ak'-sis) is the combination of words fire and axis. The word implies a red-hot wheel of creativity around which the company's efforts will revolve. [Firaxis web site, FAQ] EDITOR'S NOTE: Presumably this red-hot spinning wheel produces the following products: sparks (games), light (enjoyment), heat (forum discussions), and smoke (marketing).
FISHIN' POND (terrain feature) The large crater resulting when a Planet Buster hits a base with an advanced power plant. The hole created generally is below sea level, resulting in a 'fishin' pond'. Pronounced like "fission pond". " Boy that Gaian continent sure had a lot of fishin' ponds on it when I was through." [Lone War]
FORMERSNIPING (action) To kill non-combat units just for grins. Usage: Miriam went formersniping with a skimmer so I invaded. [Vger]
FREE MARKET CONTROVERSY (forum topic) Forum arguments concering whether or not the Away from Home Penalty unfairly penalizes players and factions who use the Free Market social choice. 
FUNGUFORMING (stratagem) Placing fungus all over your bases at the end game to get their bonuses and slow down your lower tech brethren. [futRtrubL]
FUNGUSPROOFING (tactic) Clearing the fungus around bases & roads to minimize damage to civilian infrastructure.[ViVicdi]
<HR> G
GAIANS (faction name) Properly "Gaia's Stepdaughters". Alpha Centauri faction led by Lady (Formerly Lt.) Deirdre Skye. The Gaian's feel that, if humans are to flourish on Chiron, then they must first understand Planet and then work with it. AKA: tree huggers, garbage eaters, greenpeace. [ed.]
GILLIGAN'S ISLAND HYPOTHESIS (meta theory) A SMAC origin theory postulating a connection between the seven SMAC factions marooned on Chiron and the seven castaways washed ashore on Gilligan's Island. While most researchers do not dispute the basic validity of the theory, there is considerable disagreement about which castaway corresponds to which faction leader. All agree that the Professor represents Provost Zhakarov, and that Mr. Howell represents CEO Morgan, but no agreement has been reached on whom the others correspond to. [see TG: Hitherto unknown TV influence for SMAC, Lee Johnson, ed.]
<HR> H
HARD SCIENCE FICTION (meta concept) Hard Science Fiction uses only scientifically accepted ideas or premises within a story. The opposite of hard sf is soft science fiction or "sci-fi" and is scorned by some purists. These readers are understandably annoyed by the outright ignorance displayed by many writers of even the most basic of scientific principles. 
It should be noted however that almost all science fiction is "soft" to one degree or another. Faster-than-light drives and Psi are two prominent examples of the "soft" scientific ideas in very wide use in science fiction. Most readers willingly accept a limited number of these soft science concepts in the pursuit of good and diverse storytelling. Even most purists grudgingly accept FTL as a necessary convention of the genre. 
SMAC uses a very large number of hard science premises and should be considered hard science fiction. But such elements as the Psi effects, the Gaia idea and some of the later techs, such as quantum energy and singularity armor, must be considered "soft" science. On the Ellison-Brinell scale of sci-fi hardness, with a 1 equivalent to "Battlestar Galactica" and a 10 equivalent to "Marooned off Vesta", SMAC registers a very hard 8.2 rating. It can scratch transparent aluminum, but is insufficiently hard to scratch a diamondoid surface. [ed.]
HERMITISM (status) Horrible affliction you get when you have no units to explore with and are not in contact with any factions. Makes for a horrible game. [DHE_X2]
HIVE (faction) Properly "The Human Hive". Communal faction controlled by Chairman Yang, former Executive Officer of the Unity. Founded to protect Chiron's new human community from the dangerous impulses of the individual. AKA: commie scum, thought police, insects. [ed.]
HIVE WARS (forum topic) Any of the numerous forum threads devoted to debating the relative niceness of the Hive philosophy. The most prominent of the holy wars raging in the Faction forum. [see TF: Kill the Hive, TF: The Hive Philosophy et al.]
HOLY GRAIL (game concept) Research or build item so important all gameplay efforts are directed toward it. (Women's Suffrage {Civ}, Ecological Engineering{SMAC}, Plasma Gun {MoO2}, etc.) [ViVicdi]
HOLY TRINITY (strategy) Combination of techs / build items / unit design specs which result in unprecedented synergy. (Morgan / Green / Wealth, Gene Splicing / Eco Engineering / Eco Econ, etc.) [ViVicdi]
<HR> I
INDEPENDANTS (special purpose unit, game concept) Units that cost no support, and do not generate unrest, either captured mindworms or units discovered in pods. Independent units are extremely valuable, especially to Free Market economies. [tOFfGI]
INDUSTRIAL PARK (tactic) Low-lying, landlocked, arid, probably captured site with a "Punishment Sphere", mostly forest & mine terrain, very little energy income, and usually no crawlers either, specialized for building military units & exporting portable infrastructure to more profitable bases. [ViVicdi] "This Spartan sinkhole isn't going to be of much use for anything other than an industrial park. Queue up the Punishment Sphere ..."
<HR> J
JUNKIE (player reaction) Someone hooked on SMAC. [Audrey Two]
<HR> K
KILL THE WABBIT (strategy) Attacking an enemy's colony pods to keep that enemy from building new bases and, ultimately, to marginalize him. "Kill the wabbit! Kill the WAH-BIT!" [CIV term via Khan Singh]
<HR> L
LAND SNATCHING (stratagem) Building bases as close as possible to enemy bases in order to steal their territory, and preferably a few terrain improvements in the process AKA: crowding, land grabbing. COMPARE: CLUSTERING) "Morgan figured I wouldn't be willing to start a war over land snatching. Boy, was he wrong." . [WyldKarde]
<HR> M
MINDWORM CONTROVERSY (forum topic) Forum arguments debating whether or not mindworms were too powerful, and particularly whether mindworm farming and trawling unbalanced the game in favor of the Gaians. Subsequent changes in the mindworm rules have reduced the debate. [ed.]
MINDWORM FARM (terrain feature) Area with lots on fungus, such as the Ruins, and monoliths to repair damaged mindworm farmers. [Victor Galis]
MINDWORM FARMING (tactic, game concept) The capture and/or building of mindworms [ST: Mindworm Farming, The Thomas A Stobie?]
MINDWORM SWEEP (strategy) Rushing mindworms onto an enemy. [ST: Mindworm Farming, ?]MINDWORM TACTICS (tactic) Because of the inherent 3-2 advantage mindworms have when they attack you, the basic anti-mindworm tactic is to attack them before they attack you. [ed.]
MINDWORM TRAWLING (stratagem, tactic) Moving around the fungus squares to generate mindworms for mindworm farming [def. tOFfGI]
MINI-VAN (unit) A painful euphemism for the colonizer. [Lord Gek] SEE ALSO: RABBIT "Hmm, looks like high time to take out a mini-van and setup a new campsite."
METHADONE (player reaction) Something you use to keep your mind off SMAC when you can't get a fix. (e.g. playing "FreeCell" on your work computer, or reading this message board) [Audrey Two]
MORGANITES (faction) Properly "Morgan Industries". Profit oriented Alpha Centauri faction owned by CEO Morgan Nwabudike (na-wa-bu-DI-kee). Believe that the profit motive, constructively applied, can turn Chiron into a comfortable home for mankind. AKA: moron industries, capitalist pigs, pact rats, fat oppressers of the working man. [ed.]
MORON TRADING COMPANY (stratagem) Building a bunch of crappy bases on a crappy island and using them to trade for great bases in great territory. [cousLee] "I opened up a M.T.C. and really screwed the Gaians outta everything." 
<HR> N
 
<HR> O
 
<HR> P
PANAMA CANAL (base location) Base built on a narrow isthmus of land. Allows naval units to transit between two separate bodies of water.
PAWN DEFENSE (tactic) Cramming a base with mindworms and other junk as a 1-turn defense. The enemy might win every battle next turn, but won't have enough attacks to actually take the city. [ViVicdi]
PEACEKEEPERS, PK's (faction name) Properly "UN Peacekeeping Forces". AC faction founded by Dr. Pravin Lal . Seeks to preserve the original UN mission to Alpha Centauri by reestablishing the framework of the United Nations on Chiron. AKA: blue berets, blue bonnets, soulless bureaucrats, peacekeepers (said sarcastically). [ed.]
PICARD MANEUVER (stratagem) Nullifying a defeat by loading a recently saved game. [Unknown Zone member]
PIPELINING (tactic) Putting a crawler far from (your) civilization on a borehole. [cousLee]
PIPELINE TEAM (special purpose units) 1 transport, 1 former, and 1 garrison for each 1 crawler, and 1 extra garrison. [cousLee]
PLANET (proper name, game concept, meta concept) The capitalized form of the word planet, Planet, refers to the overall eco-system on Chiron, and to the conciousness that seems to direct it against factions that harm that eco-system. If you believe in such nonsense. [ed.] SEE ALSO: CHIRON, EIGHTH FACTION
PODLOTTO (strategy, stratagem) To go podpopping in hopes of acquiring new tech or treats. "I built a swarm of rovers to play podlotto so I can catch up to Morgan in tech." [Vger]
POD POPPING (tactic, stratagem, strategy) Sending out some semi obsolete unit (typically an early rover or foil) with the chief purpose of exploring all of the pods it can. [Lord Gek] EDITOR'S NOTE: Pod popping is regarded by most players as a key strategy. Generally, the benefits of playing PODLOTTO considerably outweigh its risks. It is particularly desirable to pop all the pods near an enemy faction, both to deny the enemy the benefits of popping them himself, and to force him to deal with any mindworms that may infest the pods. This is "offensive pod popping". Also note, early in the game pod popping units need not be obsolete. Any spare combat unit will do.
PORTABLE INFASTRUCTURE (special purpose units) Terraformers and supply crawlers reassigned to a new colony & rapidly deployed onto choice terrain, giving the tiny colony vast, immediate production and growth. [ViVicdi]
PRIORITY ONE TARGET (player reaction) Guy that needs to die. [Robinof Huntingdon] "You planet grabbing, empire building freak! (borrowed from Dreadlock) You are now a Priority One Target! You, and your little dog too! Eeeehahahaa!" [cousLee]
<HR> Q
 
<HR> R
RABBIT (unit, strategy) 1. noun, a colony pod 2. verb, to rapidly increase in population by building large numbers of colony pods 3. verb, to have sexual intercourse [ CIV term, ed.] "As soon as I encountered Lady Deirdre, I cranked out my Scout and started rabbiting."
RAPID ROVER REINFORCEMENT (strategy) Strategy of building bases no more than five squares from each other, so that a rover from one base can reinforce the next base down the road in only one turn (since a rover can move six spaces by road). Allows Free Market economies to maintain a credible defense without large numbers of units or 'away from home' penalties. [Khan Singh]
REMOTE MINING (tactic) Obtaining resources via supply crawler / trawler. [ViVicdi]
ROVERRUN (strategy) 1. to overrun with rovers [tOFfGI] 2. strategy of building rovers from the start of the game and using them to attack any factions encountered. A rush using rovers. Basic Spartan strategy, but useful for others as well. [TG: Which factions are best for early victory?, Khan Singh]
RUINVILLE (base location) A base in the middle of the Ruins so one can get easy upgrades to units fresh out of the factory. [MrSmiley]
<HR> S
SARATOV (proper name, faction leader) Incorrect transliteration of Provost Zakharov's name. Used in some of the early chapters of the SMAC story. [tOFfGI]
SMAC (addictive drug, game) 1. Heroin AKA: horse, smack, juice. 2. Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (acronym) [ed.]
SMAC'd (player reaction) 1. Way gone on SMAC 2. What happens to a city when a planet buster gets dropped on it. [JaimeWolf]
SLASH AND BURN (tactic) To use formers to eliminate every trace of xenofungus from around your bases. A quick way to annoy the eighth faction. "Once I realised the Spartans were using the fungus to sneak up on me, I sent out the fungicidals to slash 'n' burn." [WyldKarde]
SLICK TRICK, SICK TRICK (meta concept) A slick trick is a very clever game technique or stratagem. A sick trick is a very clever technique that abuses a weakness in the game rules or a weakness in the AI to gain an unfair advantage. It is frequently a matter of opinion as to whether a trick is 'slick' or 'sick'. [Europa magazine?] "Land Snatching is a slick trick, but the Moron Trading Company is a sick trick."
SMOKEYING Planting forests to prevent fungal fires (er...blooms). "Forest Fires prevent bears. Or have i got that backwards?" [Q Cubed]
SPARTANS (faction) Properly "The Spartan Federation". Disciplined AC faction commanded by Colonel Corazon Santiago. The Spartans believe that the only thing of importance on Chiron is survival and that the only way to ensure their survival is discipline and firepower. AKA: bitch, survivalists, bunker beaver, gun nuts, the nra. [ed.]
STRIPMINING (tactic) Using crawlers on a territory instead of building a base there. "Those sand dunes aren't good for much but strip-mining [the rocky parts]." [Vivicdi]
STUPID AI (game concept) Weak faction that declares war on you when your might is unsurpassed [Robin of Huntingdon]
<HR> T
TERROR-FORMING (tactic) Using formers to sink cities, plant fungus, destroy improvements, or do other dastardly deeds. [Khan Singh]
<HR> U
UNIVERSITY OF PLANET, UoP (faction) Alpha Centari Faction headed by Provost Zakharov. Dedicated to the advancement of knowledge, whatever that may require. AKA: geeks, lab rats, microsoft(this epithet is also applied to the Morganites).
<HR> V
Is For VICTORY Conquest, Diplomatic, Economic, or Transcendent
<HR> W 
<HR> X
XENOFUNGUS (terrain feature) That red stuff all over the map. [ed.]
<HR> Y
YANG (meta concept, proper name) 1. The positive, active, masculine force in traditional Chinese cosmology 2.The leader of the Human Hive [ed.]
<HR> Z
ZONE OF CONTROL, ZOC (game concept) The squares surrounding a unit, in which that unit is deemed to exert a controlling influence. SMAC uses "rigid" ZOCs; each unit, with a few exceptions, has a zone of control in every square adjacent to it. A unit cannot move from one unfriendly ZOC to another, ie it cannot move from a square adjacent to an unfriendly unit to another square adjacent to an unfriendly unit. A unit trapped by unfriendly ZOCs is said to be "zocced in", or "zoc-locked". [ed.]</BODY>
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Khan Singh posted 02-17-99 08:08 PM ET
DOH! I forgot this forum doesn't take html. My ain must be fried from editing Word's ridiculous html style down to something usable. My apologies.
To close this thread, click here (moderator or admin only).


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