posted 05-21-99 12:23 AM ET            

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If you don't think they are useful, change what they give you in the alpha.txt. Specialist are good for larger cities and medium size ones that aren't terraformed completely. Also for your science city, specialist can be great in there.

Trippin Daily
-cheating never solves anything, but you still win if you do it -

posted 05-23-99 04:38 AM ET            

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I would not call that winning.

anyway, I use specialists in SMAC, but not untill the base reaches 5+ population. then using engineers, thinkers, and transcends when available will make a diffrence. You have to keep an eye on the total economy and science per turn, and see if the spec is helping or hurting. sometimes the extra energy from working the tile is better, other times it is not.

posted 05-24-99 12:58 PM ET            

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Cous, that sounds like much too much micromanagement. And wouldn't rearranging the tiles used prove to be more efficient for making energy/labs? Just curious...

-Darkstar

posted 05-24-99 01:37 PM ET            

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Well I micromanage. A lot. Compulsively.

Specialists pay off big time if used correctly. If using a building style understand that its all about tech race, minerals be damned. Get pop and energy!
Secialists add pysch and labs.

Best result is obtained by mixing in supply crawlers (yes, inside base radius) to work single resource tiles. Fiddle with it, it pays off.

Unless you are rover rushing, then who cares!

If I am wrong please expose my ignorance so all may learn.

Now, Darkstar, you know I would never try to build around you, so don't get any ideas!

posted 05-24-99 02:38 PM ET            

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/My/ question would have been: do they work? I was short on money so I went and took people and turned them into whichever-it-is that is +Econ. I /very carefully/ chose people who were either a) not producing energy or b) at MOST producing 1. Yet the amount of money I made went /down/. I ended up putting them back, maximizing my energy production in each city as much as I could with sacrificing nutrients/minerals altogether.

And yes, I have Enhancement 3.0. I don't know if this is a bug or if I just don't understand what they're supposedly doing.

posted 05-24-99 03:11 PM ET            

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Dark, it all depends on the facilities that have been built, and the purpose of your base. It does require some micromanagement, but not a lot. I usually don't use the recommended tiles picked by the computer, but the tiles that serve that base's usefullness. If i am crunching for minerals, then specialists are not important. High energy bases, without a lot of lab, econy facilities need minerals a lot more than other bases. I really only have to micromanage a base on 2 occasions. One when population increases, and two when anything is completed. I base my building queue on how long untill the next population increase. If I am using specialists, or intend on using them before the next population increase, i adjust my queue accordingly. The building queue is the best game alarm clock going. Stunting growth to fit building plans also helps in easing micromanagement. say i am halfway through a command center, but want a rec commons before the base grows again. a 2-1 tile is less desierable than a 1-1 tile, and if neither is really needed, specialists provide a nice boost.

As for telling which choice is better. I use a higher resolution, and can see what is being produced at a glance. If I used the 800x600 and had to do that extra click, it would be a pain in the arse.