Have pity on a poor newbie! Please answer my questions!

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Author Topic:   Have pity on a poor newbie! Please answer my questions!

The Dude posted 05-10-99 02:33 AM ET
I just got Alpha Centauri this past weekend, and I must admit that I'm a tad overwhelmed with the game. It is thoroughly addictive and complex, but I'm a bit swamped by everything that's happening, so I need some advice.
First of all, when exactly do turns end? At the beginning of most games, I hear "End of Turn" every time I move my units, but after about ten turns or so, the game stops telling me when my turn has ended. I like to try and do all my house keeping at the beginning of every turn since it's easy to lose track, but when the game stops letting me know when a new turn starts, things get out of hand pretty quickly. Is this a bug?
Second question: How do I direct research? It seems that the player has no direct control over the research trees available in the game, but we are supposed to "encourage" our different cities in the right direction. How is this accomplished exactly?
Last question for now: How do you stop cities from producing stuff? Late in the game, I usually have cities cranking out units that I don't really want or need. Is there a way to force them to use the resources in a more productive manner?
Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.
Evk posted 05-10-99 02:40 AM ET
1. Got me. Usually it keeps saying End of Turn.
2. You have the blind reasarch option on. Un-check it next time you start a new game with Custom Rules.
3. Have them Stockpile Energy.
Jeje2 posted 05-10-99 03:04 AM ET
Hello and wellcome to SMAC
I can give some advice, hope it helps you.
1. End of turn
There is an oppurturnity to switch this always on. If used the movement will end at the end of turn allways until you hit "Enter" or click mouse on the small map in lower right corner. "End of turn" option is under game options.
2 Research
In SMAC the defult is "blind research". This means that you only give a direction for your research. There are four areas, explore, discover, build and conquer. If you wanna change your settings hit "ctrl"+r (Or was it "ctrl"+e?) Under game menu you can also find these research menu.
3. Production
You can always make queues, this way the city has a production order. Or you can use the governor. (It is possible to modify what governor builds in a city. In mainwindow hit "F5" (or "F6", "F7" ), well one is the list of what all cities are producing. Just select the city you are interested in and in lower left corner is "modify governor". (By selecting first "All cities" and then "Modify governor" you will give order to all your cities.)
Hope this was of any help to you.
Alphaman posted 05-10-99 09:20 AM ET
Newbies should go to the Newbie friendly off-topic forum.
Aman
Schoop posted 05-10-99 09:58 AM ET
Even if you don't want to switch it so it always gives you the end of turn message, there is a way to tell when new turns start. New Units and Base FAcilities are built at the START of your turn. When the game says "production complete," it's a new turn.
Aredhran posted 05-10-99 11:22 AM ET
Dude...
Following jeje's message:
it's SHIFT+r to change research.
and DON'T use the governors, they really suck (even when you are new at the game). You'll be much better off deciding how to manage your cities yourself. Same thing applies to automated units, especially formers.
Aredhran
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Author	Topic: Have pity on a poor newbie! Please answer my questions!
The Dude	posted 05-10-99 02:33 AM ET I just got Alpha Centauri this past weekend, and I must admit that I'm a tad overwhelmed with the game. It is thoroughly addictive and complex, but I'm a bit swamped by everything that's happening, so I need some advice. First of all, when exactly do turns end? At the beginning of most games, I hear "End of Turn" every time I move my units, but after about ten turns or so, the game stops telling me when my turn has ended. I like to try and do all my house keeping at the beginning of every turn since it's easy to lose track, but when the game stops letting me know when a new turn starts, things get out of hand pretty quickly. Is this a bug? Second question: How do I direct research? It seems that the player has no direct control over the research trees available in the game, but we are supposed to "encourage" our different cities in the right direction. How is this accomplished exactly? Last question for now: How do you stop cities from producing stuff? Late in the game, I usually have cities cranking out units that I don't really want or need. Is there a way to force them to use the resources in a more productive manner? Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.
Evk	posted 05-10-99 02:40 AM ET 1. Got me. Usually it keeps saying End of Turn. 2. You have the blind reasarch option on. Un-check it next time you start a new game with Custom Rules. 3. Have them Stockpile Energy.
Jeje2	posted 05-10-99 03:04 AM ET Hello and wellcome to SMAC I can give some advice, hope it helps you. 1. End of turn There is an oppurturnity to switch this always on. If used the movement will end at the end of turn allways until you hit "Enter" or click mouse on the small map in lower right corner. "End of turn" option is under game options. 2 Research In SMAC the defult is "blind research". This means that you only give a direction for your research. There are four areas, explore, discover, build and conquer. If you wanna change your settings hit "ctrl"+r (Or was it "ctrl"+e?) Under game menu you can also find these research menu. 3. Production You can always make queues, this way the city has a production order. Or you can use the governor. (It is possible to modify what governor builds in a city. In mainwindow hit "F5" (or "F6", "F7" ), well one is the list of what all cities are producing. Just select the city you are interested in and in lower left corner is "modify governor". (By selecting first "All cities" and then "Modify governor" you will give order to all your cities.) Hope this was of any help to you.
Alphaman	posted 05-10-99 09:20 AM ET Newbies should go to the Newbie friendly off-topic forum. Aman
Schoop	posted 05-10-99 09:58 AM ET Even if you don't want to switch it so it always gives you the end of turn message, there is a way to tell when new turns start. New Units and Base FAcilities are built at the START of your turn. When the game says "production complete," it's a new turn.
Aredhran	posted 05-10-99 11:22 AM ET Dude... Following jeje's message: it's SHIFT+r to change research. and DON'T use the governors, they really suck (even when you are new at the game). You'll be much better off deciding how to manage your cities yourself. Same thing applies to automated units, especially formers. Aredhran