Worth buying? / Diplomacy Questions .... PLEASE respond

  Alpha Centauri Forums
  The Game
  Worth buying? / Diplomacy Questions .... PLEASE respond

profile | register | prefs | faq | search

Author Topic:   Worth buying? / Diplomacy Questions .... PLEASE respond

Brandeis posted 04-05-99 12:46 AM ET
So this is probably a dumb question but i buy my games very carefully.....is SMAC worth buying? and just how in depth is the diplomacy between the factions in the game? detailed explanation PLEASE....also do u compete against all of the factions at once
Rhys006 posted 04-05-99 01:17 AM ET
Well, I'm sorry to say I can't tell you much of the details about SMAC, cause it's just SO dang detailed.. But I can tell you that SMAC is a great game, despite the few annoying bugs (nothing to get worked up about). PC Gamer, the best of the best of PC Gaming mags gave it a 98%. Two years ago PC Gamer gave CivII at 97%. This game has gotten the best score any game has gotten from PC Gamer. The diplomacy? You trade money, techs, citys, units, maps, etc. You have allies, enemies, treaties, etc. That means you will be competing with all the factions at once, but you can allie with them to fight against other fractions. There is spys to steal techs or screw up a town and space orbital units to give you extra junk. Its a jam packed game, and I'd say really really worth having. The few bugs it has must be forgiven, for this is a small new company, but yet they ARE here for our needs, and are willing to fix every aspect they can to make it more enjoyable/realistic for us all. Hope this helps.
Rhys
Jonothon posted 04-05-99 01:53 AM ET
No., do not waste your money. it's a piece of crap.
The concept is great, but it quickly slows down and then siezes up. Updates from the agent, simply do not fix the problem. Most of the gamers here try to work their way around it. My feling is that if it does not work right., try something else. You will find that this is minority viewpoint.
Good luck!
Brandeis posted 04-05-99 02:12 AM ET
Is what Jonathan said true or is he just picking on a newbie?
Red5StandingBy posted 04-05-99 03:11 AM ET
Look at my post: "Fix The Missle Range, Firaxis, or This Game is Deleted Forever!"
mauibound posted 04-05-99 11:03 AM ET
Brandeis: Yes, the game is worth buying if you like strategy titles. I buy my games very carefully too b/c (1) my wife doesn't like to see all of our hard-earned money flowing out to computer games; and (2) I only have so many hours in a day/week/month to play (if I still want to sleep and work)... and SMAC has been worth every penny.
And this comes from someone who did have a hard time getting it to install the first time and who had to reinstall after patch 3.0 to keep it working right.. but even with those problems, SMAC has still given me countless hours of fun and I see many more hours in the future...
Most of the criticisms that I've seen on these boards go to nits and nats that effect individual strategies that some people have.. for example, Red5Standingby must already have spent a fair amount of hours with the game if he is so vexed by the missle range problem... You'll have spent a good number of hours and probably gotten your 40-50$ out of the game before that bothers you too much ... and by then FIRAXIS will probably have it fixed.
So if you like Civ type games (as opposed to shoot em ups or adventures), GO BUY IT!
Red5StandingBy posted 04-05-99 11:13 AM ET
mauibound is right. I have spent MANY very fun hours playing this game--but the last 5 just to become angry because the missle range isn't fixed, enabling an enemy faction to hit you at will.
Having said that, you should:
A) Buy the game, which is very good (though it might take you time to get comfortable with it), and play on small maps where the missle issue isn't such a problem.
B) Watch the board and look to see if patch 4 truly fixes the problem (Firaxis claimed they did in 3, but that doesn't seem true).
In my opinion, if they don't fix the missle range issue for some reason (though I can't imagine why that would be the case), the game isn't worth buying in the long run because you will probably want to try larger maps that are, from my point of view, much more entertaining and involve much more of the stuff you would want from such a game.
But if you hate long games on big maps anyway, then buy the game now and keep up to date on the patches.
Gee posted 04-06-99 04:20 AM ET
1) Diplomacy : Typical things you can do include trading units, cities, technologies, communication frequencies, world maps. If you are so bold you can demand some of these things from other factions. Once you have the communication frequencies of each faction you can set up a world council. The things I have seen you can do in the council is elect a planatary governer, melt ice caps and raise sea levels, lower sea levels, ban atrocities, set up a world trade charter, search for the unity craft and elect a planatary ruler (game ends if you do this one). There's more but I wanted to give you an idea of things you can do.
2) Competition between factions : you compete against 6 other factions at a time. Each faction has a different agenda for the planet. Depending on if your agenda agrees with theirs will determine whether they like you. I have noted in games I have played that you can make peace treatys early in the game but the computer often becomes harder to deal with if your faction gets too powerful. Eventually all the factions dislike you if you are very strong.
I admit I have glossed over many aspects which can only truly be experienced by playing it. I would suggest downloading the demo.
G.

To close this thread, click here (moderator or admin only).


Hop to:

Contact Us | Alpha Centauri Home

Powered by: Ultimate Bulletin Board, Version 5.18
© Madrona Park, Inc., 1998.

Author	Topic: Worth buying? / Diplomacy Questions .... PLEASE respond
Brandeis	posted 04-05-99 12:46 AM ET So this is probably a dumb question but i buy my games very carefully.....is SMAC worth buying? and just how in depth is the diplomacy between the factions in the game? detailed explanation PLEASE....also do u compete against all of the factions at once
Rhys006	posted 04-05-99 01:17 AM ET Well, I'm sorry to say I can't tell you much of the details about SMAC, cause it's just SO dang detailed.. But I can tell you that SMAC is a great game, despite the few annoying bugs (nothing to get worked up about). PC Gamer, the best of the best of PC Gaming mags gave it a 98%. Two years ago PC Gamer gave CivII at 97%. This game has gotten the best score any game has gotten from PC Gamer. The diplomacy? You trade money, techs, citys, units, maps, etc. You have allies, enemies, treaties, etc. That means you will be competing with all the factions at once, but you can allie with them to fight against other fractions. There is spys to steal techs or screw up a town and space orbital units to give you extra junk. Its a jam packed game, and I'd say really really worth having. The few bugs it has must be forgiven, for this is a small new company, but yet they ARE here for our needs, and are willing to fix every aspect they can to make it more enjoyable/realistic for us all. Hope this helps. Rhys
Jonothon	posted 04-05-99 01:53 AM ET No., do not waste your money. it's a piece of crap. The concept is great, but it quickly slows down and then siezes up. Updates from the agent, simply do not fix the problem. Most of the gamers here try to work their way around it. My feling is that if it does not work right., try something else. You will find that this is minority viewpoint. Good luck!
Brandeis	posted 04-05-99 02:12 AM ET Is what Jonathan said true or is he just picking on a newbie?
Red5StandingBy	posted 04-05-99 03:11 AM ET Look at my post: "Fix The Missle Range, Firaxis, or This Game is Deleted Forever!"
mauibound	posted 04-05-99 11:03 AM ET Brandeis: Yes, the game is worth buying if you like strategy titles. I buy my games very carefully too b/c (1) my wife doesn't like to see all of our hard-earned money flowing out to computer games; and (2) I only have so many hours in a day/week/month to play (if I still want to sleep and work)... and SMAC has been worth every penny. And this comes from someone who did have a hard time getting it to install the first time and who had to reinstall after patch 3.0 to keep it working right.. but even with those problems, SMAC has still given me countless hours of fun and I see many more hours in the future... Most of the criticisms that I've seen on these boards go to nits and nats that effect individual strategies that some people have.. for example, Red5Standingby must already have spent a fair amount of hours with the game if he is so vexed by the missle range problem... You'll have spent a good number of hours and probably gotten your 40-50$ out of the game before that bothers you too much ... and by then FIRAXIS will probably have it fixed. So if you like Civ type games (as opposed to shoot em ups or adventures), GO BUY IT!
Red5StandingBy	posted 04-05-99 11:13 AM ET mauibound is right. I have spent MANY very fun hours playing this game--but the last 5 just to become angry because the missle range isn't fixed, enabling an enemy faction to hit you at will. Having said that, you should: A) Buy the game, which is very good (though it might take you time to get comfortable with it), and play on small maps where the missle issue isn't such a problem. B) Watch the board and look to see if patch 4 truly fixes the problem (Firaxis claimed they did in 3, but that doesn't seem true). In my opinion, if they don't fix the missle range issue for some reason (though I can't imagine why that would be the case), the game isn't worth buying in the long run because you will probably want to try larger maps that are, from my point of view, much more entertaining and involve much more of the stuff you would want from such a game. But if you hate long games on big maps anyway, then buy the game now and keep up to date on the patches.
Gee	posted 04-06-99 04:20 AM ET 1) Diplomacy : Typical things you can do include trading units, cities, technologies, communication frequencies, world maps. If you are so bold you can demand some of these things from other factions. Once you have the communication frequencies of each faction you can set up a world council. The things I have seen you can do in the council is elect a planatary governer, melt ice caps and raise sea levels, lower sea levels, ban atrocities, set up a world trade charter, search for the unity craft and elect a planatary ruler (game ends if you do this one). There's more but I wanted to give you an idea of things you can do. 2) Competition between factions : you compete against 6 other factions at a time. Each faction has a different agenda for the planet. Depending on if your agenda agrees with theirs will determine whether they like you. I have noted in games I have played that you can make peace treatys early in the game but the computer often becomes harder to deal with if your faction gets too powerful. Eventually all the factions dislike you if you are very strong. I admit I have glossed over many aspects which can only truly be experienced by playing it. I would suggest downloading the demo. G.