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Author Topic:   Terrain

Sun_Tzu posted 08-11-99 03:35 AM ET
I have a small question- what kind of "terrain scheme" do you guys prefer to use? Not counting Boreholes and elevation, is it better to go all forest, all xenofungus, all rolling&rainy, etc? Later on in the game the xenofungus actually gives benefits, so is it more viable to fill all your squares with xenofungus? I'm just curious because I've never played around with the differing terrains in SMAC as much as I did in Civ and Civ2. Also, is it better to level rocky squares, or keep them and put mines on top?
CstmmagEK posted 08-11-99 11:46 AM ET
I like to have a couple mines, farms, condensers. Other than that I plant forests everywhere and interconnect my bases with as few road/mag-tubes as possible. I don't mess around with elevation much unless it's to deter a rival faction.
TNSe posted 08-11-99 11:49 AM ET
As you probably wanted our personal opinions, I'll give you just that...
I usually play with:
50-70% ocean coverage
Weak erosive forces
Abundant native lifeforms (because of the +25% score bonus)
Dense cloud cover (I really don't know what this does

With this kind of setup, there is a LOT of fungus around, it's usually a lot of green, and big mountains. I must admit, that one of the first things I do, is to remove the xenofungus. I build Farms+solar panels on rainy+rolling, rainy+flat and Moist+rolling. I build Forest on Arid+rolling ,Arid+flat and Moist+flat. On rocky areas, I usually build mines and boreholes.. Sometimes I level the rocky areas to rolling. But I NEVER grow xenofungus... Too many bad accidents with Mindworms and factions with a certain wonder.
Forests get quite good at the end of a game, when they produce 3 nutrients, 2 minerals and 2 energy... Also, they sometimes spread into annoying xenofungus.
Raising and lowering land is not something I do often, but it happens.. Rising and lowering seafloors happen all the time...
TNSe
Cadrys posted 08-11-99 12:53 PM ET
At game start, particularly 'nice' squares (rocky, rolling & rainy) get mines and farms, respectively...it's a race for the formers to keep up with the colonies though, so it's usually only a few squares/colony are 'formed. Colonies in totally arid areas get a condenser to help the farms out.
Once the tree farms get built, it's all forest, all the time. Boreholes and mirror farms are saved for areas outside of cities--I find I prefer the 'balanced' effect of hybridized forests on the city, rather than trying to tweak production with terraforming. Also, a forest can co-exist with a sensor without sacrificing energy output. (Typically I build a 'mirror farm' for my science city as well--usually by using a lake and plopping down lots of tidal harnesses.)
Like TNSe above, I don't bother with much raising and lowering of land, except to bring up seafloors or eliminate the occasional landbridge to an AI-held continent.
Dark_Jedi posted 08-11-99 04:04 PM ET
At the beginning I try to build as many farms and forests as I can. I build farms on all rainy terrains and on some moist. On all other terrains I plant forests, except for rocky areas, where I build Boreholes. The spreading ability of the forests is helpful. Then I connect my colonies with roads and later tubes for faster movement.
I very seldom raise or lower land (I counted 3 times), for its not very helpful.
Very late in the game, when I got most of the technologies, I plant fungus again, because it gives all three resources and calms the planet and worms. But I also change my social engineering settings to maximum for Planet.
fromhell posted 08-12-99 12:49 PM ET
Well, there's really all sorts of ways that are effective and work. It sort of depends of the style of game you play, or are playing in a particular game. You really can't go wrong with forest, especially in the arid areas. They give good recouces early in the game and can give pretty good later, although you can usually terreform squares to give much more for particular recourses late also. I prefure super squares. Squares with farm/condenser/soilenricher, one or two bore holes, high ground with solarpanels/echelon mirrors. Does this upset planet? Sure, so you have to be building all the right facilities. But I play around all the time to with other ideas; and most of them work just as well. Going all forest and fungus can be great with the proper social choices and SP's and what not.
I will flatten terrain (ruduce rockiness) if I want forrest to grow there. I just did that to a ridge that I have lined with solar panels and echelon mirrors. So far the forest hasn't expanded into any of the squares though and I'm wondering if I missed something.
And don't underestimate the power of raising and lowering terrain. You really can starve selected enemy cities with this method. It's maybe a slightly cumbersum way to go about takeing out the AI; but a wonderful idea against a human. There's also the great idea of creating a land bridge to the enemy to avoid transporting troops (or lower into the sea to keep them off your back).
Basically, experiment and have fun. Try different things out with different factions. Every game I learn something new and I think, I can't wait to try this trick on a human.
W_U_J posted 08-12-99 10:47 PM ET
Generally, I plant all forest except on rocky squares. On these, I put Mines and a supply crawler. Sometimes I armor the crawler, and put a bunker there as well. I just love watching those AI planes go down in flames. <chuckle>.
I also riddle the forests with rivers by drilling to aquifer. This technique greatly increases the energy output of your faction.
In the early game, Nutrients are the primary resource I go for. Therefore, in the early game, I tend to stick in a farm and solar collectors in my rainy/rolling and moist/rolling squares, but these get replaced when Treefarms come along.
With the Weather Paradigm, condensors are a big help early on. They get replaced later. Once the mineral and energy restrictions are off, a Borehole for those cities that have good Nutrient production comes in handy.
By the time Super tensile solids comes around, I'm usually researching a tech/2 rounds or so, so I *never* get my bases fully grown. I don't use the use-a-pod-to-increase-base-size-over-max cheat. Therefore, maximizing production via terraforming is not a big thing for me.
Enclosing a section of ocean shelf for nutrients/energy is helpful to speed growth, then research/cashflow. Use supply ships/planes. The reason you enclose it is to keep those annoying Sea Colony pods from claiming it. Ya gotta be sneaky. Also, raising terrain is helpful for making use of those underwater areas of the uranium flats, and to save your terraforming from Global Warming. It all depends on how much terraforming time you have available. I tend to go for the easy way out.
~~Weird Uncle Jesse~~
Zakharov_54 posted 08-17-99 11:32 PM ET
As a general rule I go with 50-70% water, average-strong erosive resources, average lifeforms, and average to dense cloud cover (which increases amount of good farmland).
I do quite a bit of terraforming. Usually when I come upon a rocky square I just put a mine there. I also drill to the aquifer and build condensors a lot. As a general rule, I never build a solar collector below 1000 meters or mines on flat land. If its flat and below 1000 meters I build a forest.
Koshko posted 08-18-99 01:11 AM ET
Once I get into the game a little, I Forest everything except Rocky w/ Mineral deposit (which I Mine) and high level Rolling squares (which I f/s/r).
Sun_Tzu posted 08-18-99 08:55 PM ET
Looking over the replies, I think I've found a good terraforming order. In the Moist/Rainy squares, I build up to Soil Enrichers and Solar Collectors. If the Moist/Rainy square happens to be rocky, I just level it down to rolling. If I need minerals, I will just build a Borehole; then at least I will get energy as well. Any flat&arid squares are turned into forests. Usually if there aren't any flat or arid squares around, I will turn two of the flat non-rolling/rocky squares into forests. I also make two Boreholes per base as well. LoL looking back I see that this description isn't that great... Here's a list of what a usually have per base. Hopefully it will be better:

2 Boreholes
2+ Forests
Everything else Soil Enricher&Solar Collector

If there aren't many Rainy squares in a base, I usually build a Condensor somewhere in the middle of the Moist squares (Only on the low ground, however. It's a waste of perfectly good elevation if I waste a Condensor on a square that's 3000 above sea level, heh). Also, I will only build Mines on squares with a Minerals Bonus. Otherwise, I don't bother with them. The extra minerals from the Boreholes added with the minerals I get from the Rolling squares is adequate for me. Also, I've played around with the Echelon Mirrors, and I finally realized that Echelon Mirrons will work *outside* the perimeter of your bases =P. Have any of you tried surrounding the perimeter of your bases with Echelon Mirrors? This way they increase the energy production of all the Solar Collectors on the outer edge of your base's resource collection zone. After that, I'm not too sure about how to organize the mirrors inside the actual base... Has anyone done the actual numbers and found out what is the best method? I know that placement really varies with the terrain and such, but I would like to have some sort of general outline to follow...
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Author	Topic: Terrain
Sun_Tzu	posted 08-11-99 03:35 AM ET I have a small question- what kind of "terrain scheme" do you guys prefer to use? Not counting Boreholes and elevation, is it better to go all forest, all xenofungus, all rolling&rainy, etc? Later on in the game the xenofungus actually gives benefits, so is it more viable to fill all your squares with xenofungus? I'm just curious because I've never played around with the differing terrains in SMAC as much as I did in Civ and Civ2. Also, is it better to level rocky squares, or keep them and put mines on top?
CstmmagEK	posted 08-11-99 11:46 AM ET I like to have a couple mines, farms, condensers. Other than that I plant forests everywhere and interconnect my bases with as few road/mag-tubes as possible. I don't mess around with elevation much unless it's to deter a rival faction.
TNSe	posted 08-11-99 11:49 AM ET As you probably wanted our personal opinions, I'll give you just that... I usually play with: 50-70% ocean coverage Weak erosive forces Abundant native lifeforms (because of the +25% score bonus) Dense cloud cover (I really don't know what this does With this kind of setup, there is a LOT of fungus around, it's usually a lot of green, and big mountains. I must admit, that one of the first things I do, is to remove the xenofungus. I build Farms+solar panels on rainy+rolling, rainy+flat and Moist+rolling. I build Forest on Arid+rolling ,Arid+flat and Moist+flat. On rocky areas, I usually build mines and boreholes.. Sometimes I level the rocky areas to rolling. But I NEVER grow xenofungus... Too many bad accidents with Mindworms and factions with a certain wonder. Forests get quite good at the end of a game, when they produce 3 nutrients, 2 minerals and 2 energy... Also, they sometimes spread into annoying xenofungus. Raising and lowering land is not something I do often, but it happens.. Rising and lowering seafloors happen all the time... TNSe
Cadrys	posted 08-11-99 12:53 PM ET At game start, particularly 'nice' squares (rocky, rolling & rainy) get mines and farms, respectively...it's a race for the formers to keep up with the colonies though, so it's usually only a few squares/colony are 'formed. Colonies in totally arid areas get a condenser to help the farms out. Once the tree farms get built, it's all forest, all the time. Boreholes and mirror farms are saved for areas outside of cities--I find I prefer the 'balanced' effect of hybridized forests on the city, rather than trying to tweak production with terraforming. Also, a forest can co-exist with a sensor without sacrificing energy output. (Typically I build a 'mirror farm' for my science city as well--usually by using a lake and plopping down lots of tidal harnesses.) Like TNSe above, I don't bother with much raising and lowering of land, except to bring up seafloors or eliminate the occasional landbridge to an AI-held continent.
Dark_Jedi	posted 08-11-99 04:04 PM ET At the beginning I try to build as many farms and forests as I can. I build farms on all rainy terrains and on some moist. On all other terrains I plant forests, except for rocky areas, where I build Boreholes. The spreading ability of the forests is helpful. Then I connect my colonies with roads and later tubes for faster movement. I very seldom raise or lower land (I counted 3 times), for its not very helpful. Very late in the game, when I got most of the technologies, I plant fungus again, because it gives all three resources and calms the planet and worms. But I also change my social engineering settings to maximum for Planet.
fromhell	posted 08-12-99 12:49 PM ET Well, there's really all sorts of ways that are effective and work. It sort of depends of the style of game you play, or are playing in a particular game. You really can't go wrong with forest, especially in the arid areas. They give good recouces early in the game and can give pretty good later, although you can usually terreform squares to give much more for particular recourses late also. I prefure super squares. Squares with farm/condenser/soilenricher, one or two bore holes, high ground with solarpanels/echelon mirrors. Does this upset planet? Sure, so you have to be building all the right facilities. But I play around all the time to with other ideas; and most of them work just as well. Going all forest and fungus can be great with the proper social choices and SP's and what not. I will flatten terrain (ruduce rockiness) if I want forrest to grow there. I just did that to a ridge that I have lined with solar panels and echelon mirrors. So far the forest hasn't expanded into any of the squares though and I'm wondering if I missed something. And don't underestimate the power of raising and lowering terrain. You really can starve selected enemy cities with this method. It's maybe a slightly cumbersum way to go about takeing out the AI; but a wonderful idea against a human. There's also the great idea of creating a land bridge to the enemy to avoid transporting troops (or lower into the sea to keep them off your back). Basically, experiment and have fun. Try different things out with different factions. Every game I learn something new and I think, I can't wait to try this trick on a human.
W_U_J	posted 08-12-99 10:47 PM ET Generally, I plant all forest except on rocky squares. On these, I put Mines and a supply crawler. Sometimes I armor the crawler, and put a bunker there as well. I just love watching those AI planes go down in flames. <chuckle>. I also riddle the forests with rivers by drilling to aquifer. This technique greatly increases the energy output of your faction. In the early game, Nutrients are the primary resource I go for. Therefore, in the early game, I tend to stick in a farm and solar collectors in my rainy/rolling and moist/rolling squares, but these get replaced when Treefarms come along. With the Weather Paradigm, condensors are a big help early on. They get replaced later. Once the mineral and energy restrictions are off, a Borehole for those cities that have good Nutrient production comes in handy. By the time Super tensile solids comes around, I'm usually researching a tech/2 rounds or so, so I never get my bases fully grown. I don't use the use-a-pod-to-increase-base-size-over-max cheat. Therefore, maximizing production via terraforming is not a big thing for me. Enclosing a section of ocean shelf for nutrients/energy is helpful to speed growth, then research/cashflow. Use supply ships/planes. The reason you enclose it is to keep those annoying Sea Colony pods from claiming it. Ya gotta be sneaky. Also, raising terrain is helpful for making use of those underwater areas of the uranium flats, and to save your terraforming from Global Warming. It all depends on how much terraforming time you have available. I tend to go for the easy way out. ~~Weird Uncle Jesse~~
Zakharov_54	posted 08-17-99 11:32 PM ET As a general rule I go with 50-70% water, average-strong erosive resources, average lifeforms, and average to dense cloud cover (which increases amount of good farmland). I do quite a bit of terraforming. Usually when I come upon a rocky square I just put a mine there. I also drill to the aquifer and build condensors a lot. As a general rule, I never build a solar collector below 1000 meters or mines on flat land. If its flat and below 1000 meters I build a forest.
Koshko	posted 08-18-99 01:11 AM ET Once I get into the game a little, I Forest everything except Rocky w/ Mineral deposit (which I Mine) and high level Rolling squares (which I f/s/r).
Sun_Tzu	posted 08-18-99 08:55 PM ET Looking over the replies, I think I've found a good terraforming order. In the Moist/Rainy squares, I build up to Soil Enrichers and Solar Collectors. If the Moist/Rainy square happens to be rocky, I just level it down to rolling. If I need minerals, I will just build a Borehole; then at least I will get energy as well. Any flat&arid squares are turned into forests. Usually if there aren't any flat or arid squares around, I will turn two of the flat non-rolling/rocky squares into forests. I also make two Boreholes per base as well. LoL looking back I see that this description isn't that great... Here's a list of what a usually have per base. Hopefully it will be better: 2 Boreholes 2+ Forests Everything else Soil Enricher&Solar Collector If there aren't many Rainy squares in a base, I usually build a Condensor somewhere in the middle of the Moist squares (Only on the low ground, however. It's a waste of perfectly good elevation if I waste a Condensor on a square that's 3000 above sea level, heh). Also, I will only build Mines on squares with a Minerals Bonus. Otherwise, I don't bother with them. The extra minerals from the Boreholes added with the minerals I get from the Rolling squares is adequate for me. Also, I've played around with the Echelon Mirrors, and I finally realized that Echelon Mirrons will work outside the perimeter of your bases =P. Have any of you tried surrounding the perimeter of your bases with Echelon Mirrors? This way they increase the energy production of all the Solar Collectors on the outer edge of your base's resource collection zone. After that, I'm not too sure about how to organize the mirrors inside the actual base... Has anyone done the actual numbers and found out what is the best method? I know that placement really varies with the terrain and such, but I would like to have some sort of general outline to follow...