posted 02-17-99 11:14 PM ET        

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.

.

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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, ]

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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]

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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]

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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]

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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]

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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]

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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.]

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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]

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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 ..."

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J

JUNKIE (player reaction)
Someone hooked on SMAC. [Audrey Two]

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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]

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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]

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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."

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N

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O

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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]

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Q

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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]

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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]

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T

TERROR-FORMING (tactic)
Using formers to sink cities, plant fungus, destroy improvements, or do other dastardly deeds. [Khan Singh]

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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).

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V

Is
For
VICTORY
Conquest, Diplomatic, Economic, or Transcendent

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W

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X

XENOFUNGUS (terrain feature)
That red stuff all over the map. [ed.]

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Y

YANG (meta concept, proper name)
1. The positive, active, masculine force in traditional Chinese cosmology
2.The leader of the Human Hive [ed.]

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Z

posted 02-17-99 11:50 PM ET            

GOLD LETTER VICTORY (event)
A major victory for your forces. The capture of an enemy capital, for instance. The term comes from Gettysburg from Firaxis. When your troops won a decisive victory in that game, the name of the battle was emblazoned in gold letters upon your battle flag.

posted 02-18-99 02:29 PM ET            

"SMAC-TALK" :
1. refers to the postings on the forums; esp. ones that generate hearty discussion usage: "Damn that was good SMAC-TALK on 'Realistically, can humanity reach Alpha Centauri by 2100AD?'".

posted 02-18-99 03:03 PM ET            

MILITARY CONVOY (n.) - low-cost military units whose purpose is to disband, providing production materials to a colony. Typically, military convoys are used before Supply Crawler technology is discovered, although any obsolete unit may qualify. "I didn't have any Supply Crawlers, so I just set my base to crank out the Scout Military Convoy."

posted 02-19-99 05:42 AM ET            

WormSign (apology to FH) Last words of anti
Planet antagonists before being engulfed by
mindworms.

Ecoblasphemy: Any political stance opposed
to the Gaians.
More to follow, great forum.

posted 02-19-99 10:29 AM ET            

Lone War, sorry to have misunderstood "Buying the Win". Wow. Buing the Transcendence Project in one turn? That's a lot of energy.

Speaking of a lot of energy,(Segue Alert! Segue Alert!) in the Morganite entry of the dictionary, I should have written a note explaining the "Pact Rat" epithet. The Morganites like to have pacts with as as many other factions as possible, to gain trade benefits. They also like pacts because the Free Market makes waging war very difficult. And the Morganites have the reputation of being greedy and acquisitive. So "pact rat", with its mental image of "pack rat", is a very appropriate term for them.

The following definition is reposted for Thyerri Vespe:

JAWBREAKER (Noun, faction)
A seemingly weak faction that provides unexpected resistance to invasion. [Thyerri Vespe]

And one from me:

posted 02-19-99 12:39 PM ET         

SEABEES (unit) Heavily-armored formers, for building bunkers, airbases, sensors, etc. and, of course, Terrorforming (q.v.) in harm's way. (From WWII construction battalions [CBs--get it?], so the name applies at least as well to land as sea formers.)

Also, I originally posted this in another thread, but IM(NS)HO, it belongs here:

posted 02-19-99 04:27 PM ET            

The Drugs must have been taking effect- What you say about the city planners when the enemy faction runs out of seabase names and makes a particular inapropriate name for a new seabase- like Primeval Forest or Blast Rifle Crag. Needs a shorter name.

Relieval of Assets/Crime against the Game, depending on which side you're on in MP- planet busting the Enemy City with 5 Secret Projects. Expect bad words from the recievee.

Mobile Defense Force- A few elite Hovertanks or speeders that run around between the bases on your continent swatting invaders that land. With Psi Attack, Psi Defense, Empath Song, and Trance, this can be especially powerful.

Prayer cities- moving a colony pod unescorted through fungus thick area, founding a city, and praying that it doesn't die along the way or the city gets overrun with mindworms before it builds a defense unit. Much more common when not playing "Iron Man" mode.

Buying the Bullet- When the global energy market crashes when you're a mere 1,000 credits away from economic victory. See "Buying the Win."

And These are mostly for the old-timers:

Col. Joaquim Ortega- Who Colonel Santiago used to be. Suspicously similiar to Col. Juan Peron, Argentine dictator. Intended as bad guys, back when Labyrinth was not really bad guys.

Labyrinth- what the Hive used to be. Led by Dr., not Chairman, Yang. It was more based on science and control than despotism. "Police/Planned/Knowledge/Thought Control makes the Hive more like the good 'ol Labyrinth."

Archons- The old University, led by Acadaemian Sorov, not even Saratov.

Gaia's High Garden- Old Gaian capital. Demoted to a standard city. If you look at Deidre's old profile, it still lists it as the cap, and it's still refrenced in the Rec Commons quote.

Conclave/Conclavists- Old name for Believers. Still have Conclave Bible, Conclave Oral Law though.

Keepers of Wisdom- Old Peacekeeper name.

Also, some forum based lunacy as applied to the real game:

Attack toilets: using a 1 offense defender to attack units outside the city. i.e. "My Plasma Sentinels faced better odds as attack toilets against Miriam's Missile Rover- they'd be destroyed inside the city with the rover's fanatic attack bonus and superior technology."

VIB- Vampires in Black. Drop pod security force- drop defensive garrison units into cities to prevent their fall. See also "Pawn Defense."

Less relevant to the game (sorry jsorense, some of these might be repeated as this is a copy& paste of what I did before):

SMACA=SMAC Addiction. Incurable, but treatable. 3 generally recognized stages.

ProSMAC-Cure for SMACA. Unfortunately, it takes prodigious quantities to succesfully combat it.

Super ProSMAC- Invented by MikeH, this is more effective then ProSMAC at curing SMACA, as it takes longer to apply.

Azugal- Related to NIM. Some kind of sentient creature related to mindworms.

posted 02-20-99 07:38 PM ET            

THE TRAVELLER'S PARADOX (game concept)
On Planet the quickest distance between two points is rarely a straight line. The "bounce" effect of xenofungus on early units means that it is usually quicker to go around xenofungus than it is to try to go directly through it.

posted 03-04-99 11:32 PM ET            

BEANSTALK (special project)
The Space Elevator.

SMAC-A (medical condition)
Addiction to SMAC. AKA: SMACA

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Errata: Hey, even a genetically engineered superman makes the odd mistake. The following are errors in the Dictionary of SMAC.

Miriam's last name is Godwinson, not Goodwinson.

Morgan's name is Nwabudike Morgan not Morgan Nwabudike.

Fishin' Pond should read, "...when a PlanetBuster with an advanced reactor hits a base..."

Away from Home should read "...when troops are outside their home territory."

Buying the Win should read "Having enough money to buy the Transcendence Project in one turn from a standing start."

posted 03-05-99 01:04 AM ET         

THE DIG-- UoP base in center of The Ruins.

DUNE BUGGIES-- Early, unarmored Rovers.

FUNNY CARS-- Armored Rovers.

posted 03-05-99 02:44 AM ET         

RENT-A-COP: Basic Scout Infantry with the Police (and sometimes Clean) ability, used to garrison cities that are suffering attack from those notorious infinite-range Conventional Missiles. Also good in those "I built the Cloning Vats too early" emergencies.

posted 03-07-99 01:31 AM ET            

Lowrider: Armored rover
(yeah, I know, "Funny Cars" has already been suggested, but I couldn't resist ...)

Army Laundering or Pacifist Punishing: Building a "Punishment Sphere" in a well-protected base & sending attack units with "Clean Reactor" to be supported from there so as to "launder" ALL pacifist penalties through that one base.

Thumper [Etymology, "Dune"]: A base whose high production attracts worms.

Banked Artifact: Artifact held in reserve so as to increase the value of the technology it will yield.

posted 03-07-99 05:08 AM ET            

Wormhunting (or 'Loitering with malicious intent around the Ruins')

Wormhunting occurs when an enterprising player, usually Gaians, captures his first worm. He then sends this worm off to the Ruins to deliberately loiter around the place to catch other mindworms. This tactic can be extremely useful in building a large army of mindworms with high morale. Since the Ruins on the map of Planet is surrounded by fungus, this is excellent wormhunting territory. Moreover, the existence of the monoliths means that any worms that have been injured in combat can quickly regain strength. Even more enterprising players will realise that putting 'Native life' on 'Abundant' will further increase their worm yield.

And:

Build Up, The (aka 'What the hell is that?')

As many new players of SMAC will attest to, the shock experienced when they see a huge massed army bearing down on them is second to none. These newbies may have been veterans of Civ2, but it takes a strong willed player to realise that he'll have to switch his entire faction to a war footing in order to beat back the attackers. Most usually experience when the Spartans/Believer/Hive are nearby.

Peacekeepers, Messing about with

The PKs are described in the manual as having 'Erratic' aggression. This is extremely useful, and amusing, in certain cases. For example, occassionally the PKs will declare war on you. The player of course will have anticipated this and take the opportunity to snatch a few PK bases. Just before the PKs mass a large force, the cunning player contacts Lal and offers a Blood Truce or signs a Treaty. This can be done as many times as the player wants.

Hope you liked them,

posted 03-07-99 01:00 PM ET         

Ivory Tower: Alternate definition of Morgan Institute of Technology

Adam Smith's Trading Company: Base with Merchant Exchange, the Longevity Vaccine (with Free Market), the Space Elevator, and, of course, being the Morgans or Planetary Governor always helps.

1984: Using Police State politics, Planned economy, Power values, and Thought Control future society. I think you can figure out the reference I'm making. :-)

posted 03-07-99 01:15 PM ET            

Mindworm baiting- Sending heavily armoured formers into enemy territory to build things such as boreholes to attract the worms.(works best against belivers or morganites-because of planet penalies)

regards,

posted 03-10-99 02:52 PM ET            

I would add,

posted 03-10-99 04:06 PM ET            

Another piece of errata:

In the definition of Hard Science Fiction, Singularity Armor should be Neutronium Armor. (If you're wondering why I deem that as "soft" science, I just don't think that neutronium could be realistically used by infantry or light vehicles as an armor component. Maybe on a doomsday machine...)

and a suggestion:

posted 03-12-99 01:35 AM ET            

Human Rights Campaign: Unscheduled military initiative launched by the "Peacekeepers". "Pravin Lal just went Crazy Ivan with a Human Rights Campaign!"

Nonviolent Resistance: A double entendre' describing the paradox of a faction so overmatched that their resistance is negligible ("nonviolent resistance"), yet who resists making peace ("nonviolent resistance"). "Miriam wants Orbital Spaceflight or she'll crush me with her unbeatable Impact Rovers, huh? Oh well, more nonviolent resistance ... Release the Hounds!"

posted 03-22-99 12:19 PM ET         

ARTWORK: Artillery bombing a city defence low making it easier for your troops to capture.

DESERTSTORM: Using air units to bomb a city and any troops/suppliers moving to defend or supply the city. (Especially useful if your formers construct airbases)

NFZ: No fly zone: Area where you use air defenders to keep airspace free from enemy aircrafts.

BURNT GROUND: Killing one of your own cities if it is imminent that it will be captured.

posted 03-25-99 05:08 AM ET            

TTBSU: time to blow sh*t up. what a SMACA say's to themselves before playing another game.

Kamakazi: scout unit with artillery and drop pods. used to drop in enemy terr next to an enemy unit, arty the sensor array, and self destruct to damage the other unit. also good for grabbing empty cities after a bombing run.

Airial Blockade: Blocking reinforcements by attacking from the far side of a city with your bombers (cover the roads). works well with the cheap Kamakazi units.

Attack to Defend, Roman Defence, Offensive Defence (OD),
"I sent my OD units to destroy the mindworm invasion"

posted 03-25-99 12:49 PM ET         

DEATH FROM ABOVE - Using Drop Marines after building the space elevator to blitzkrieg a faction halfway across the map. Very useful on large maps.

posted 03-25-99 04:13 PM ET            

My SMAC time is generally after the kids are in bed. One night, before my 10-year old daughter went to bed, she asked me, "Dad, what is that sound I hear sometimes when I get into bed and you guys are still awake? It sounds like: SSSHHHHKKKKT, SSSHHHHKKKKT!"

posted 03-25-99 09:09 PM ET            

Aerial Blockade: Using aircraft to block a road, chokepoint, or other passage.

I used the aerial blockade extensively in one game to get Yang to stack up all his invading troops into one big pile on a road leading into my territory, then ** WHAM ** I could hit 'em with Rovers to get "collateral damage" + "open terrain". Heh heh ...

Note that the aerial blockade works best with FIGHTERS, because if the foe tries to remove the blockade with fighters you're an even match. (SAM ground troops will annihilate your aircraft regardless of their mods ... but the AI, while good with the AAA defensive response, doesn't really do the SAM Rover thing much ...)

posted 03-25-99 11:49 PM ET            

The deliberate placement of units near a rival faction's city causing needlejets that were sent out by that city on a previous turn to take a longer route on the flight home, causing the air units to run out of fuel and crash.

Miriam once declared vendetta against me and sent out about six or seven needlejets from her closest city. Unfortunately for her, my closest city was one square beyond the jet's range. She couldn't even attack. I moved some seaformers and a transport near the city they launched from, directly in the jets' flight path. I watched in amusement as every jet crashed one square from its home base due to my Buddy Holly maneuver.

posted 03-26-99 03:40 AM ET            

Demo Years: First 100 turns (duh, can't beleive this was missed). (I have been using this term for a while, must be recovering from a PSI attack).

Gumping: Running like hell from far superior units.

RUN FOREST, RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I like the Pirates one. or could be called Viking Units.

fine
ok
so I can't spell.

posted 03-26-99 04:44 AM ET            

Poke in the Eye - my standard name for the conventional missile

Crater Maker - my standard name for the unconventional missile

Archers n' Chariots - those scouts ya start with (1/1/1) and the particle rovers (4/1/1). A dig at how SMAC starts just the same as the Civs. Also a remark on how easy it is to beat up anyAI unlucky enough to be your land neighbor. Welcome back to 4000 BC!

Sleep - Rumored to be something normal people do

Tidal Wave - Sweeping through a bunch of Sea Cities using cheap armed boats, air power, and the occasional spy (some SCs actually have something in them!)

Blue Angels - A sky show when lots of enemy airplanes go flying by, but don't actually do anything. Often an easy target for Buddy Holly.

No Fly Zone - A city with maxed air defenses whose AAA units can take a Poke in the Eye, and live.

Lure - real cheap unit built in captured cities to lure enemy air into an exposed position. Also used with ctrl-D to make primary defender.

Nice Continent - what you say before you send in the copters...

posted 03-26-99 01:07 PM ET            

Demo Years, Gumping, Carpet Bombing, Sleep (heh heh), and Clean Up.

posted 03-26-99 01:45 PM ET            

Thought of another one or two last night:

MINE!!! - a plane/Locust/Gravship escort over a stack of ground/sea units including a AAA primary defender. My defense is so good, the AI won't attack me, so that square is MINE!!! And then that city is MINE!!!

(Unsurpassed Might)^2 or UM^2- After Cleaning Up for awhile, you'll have more units than the others. Squared. The smart AI, at this juncture, would try to be my best friend

The 3rd Estate - For those chassis types (and techs) you hardly get to use or are relatively useless: Destroyer (except for transports, 2 extra moves isn't as good as being able to crank out boats 1/year), Gravship, and Hovertank. By the time the last two become available, I've already got UM^2.

posted 03-27-99 03:11 AM ET            

games played with altered .txt files

posted 03-27-99 03:40 AM ET            

Elm Street: a river that runs through fungus.

Hat Trick: changing production in the city closest to a pod in hopes "materials to finish" shows up.

posted 03-27-99 08:24 AM ET            

Peacekeeping (ver 1.0)
- Getting rivaling factions to make peace.

posted 03-28-99 10:14 AM ET            

original:
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]

this was before I learned the correct use of artillery units. All though armor on an arty unit is redundant unless being used as a stand alone unit, I think a better example would be a "needlejet supply trawler".

original:
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]

thats "Deadlock", not "Dreadlock". (damn typos).

posted 03-28-99 04:12 PM ET            

When a powerful enemy faction, for no particular reason at all, surrenders. For example,

Spartans (Seething): Give me all your tech or you die.

You: No

Spartans (Seething): Let's sign blood truce.

You: No

Spartans (Seething): I'll give you all my tech and money if you do.

You: No, but I'll let you off if you swear pact.

posted 03-30-99 03:36 PM ET            

The Edsel was still a drivable car, it was just a bad design. likewise the needlejet supply is a poor design eventhough it does have it's limited uses.

posted 03-30-99 11:18 PM ET            

CLAIM JUMPING (tactic)
Placing supply convoys in squares that are in your opponents city radius but not currently occupied. Very useful/evil when done to your pact siblings.

INSTANT REBATE (noun)
The energy credits you 'steal' from a base which you just mind controlled for substantially more energy.

NINJA DEFENSE KIT (noun / tactic)
The armour applied to a Probe Team to convert it into an even more antagonizing unit.

INCENDIARY STICK FIGURE GUY (noun)
Nickname for the Transcendi Specialists.

WONDERS (game concept)
The erroneous name us Civjunkies commonly apply to the Secret Projects.

SPACE WHORE (noun / expletive)
Common name applied to Dierdre, Miriam, or Santiago after a declaration of Vendetta.

INSECTICIDE (noun)
A weapon, particularly Nerve Gas Pods, intended to slaughter The Hive.

THE NEVER-ENDING PARTY (noun)
The game years following the Repeal of the U.N. Charter.

posted 03-31-99 07:43 PM ET            

Some additional suggestions, in no particular order (my apologies for any that might have already been used):

Corduroy (noun)--A broad expanse of forest. "Whoa, look at all the CORDUROY on Deirdre's continent!"

Bluehatch (verb)--To upgrade all roads on a continent to mag tubes to make the map look better. "Garland Crater looks just like a big doily, now that I've BLUEHATCHED it."

Crater blindness (noun)--(1) The inability to tell which square is which around Garland Crater. (2) Lingering visual impairment caused by (1). "Gack! Where does that road go? I've got CRATER BLINDNESS!"

SMACanoia (noun)--The sudden, overwhelming desire to check each and every city for redundant facilities, food shortages, drones, etc. "SMACANOIA strikes deep; into your life it will creep."

Mr. Benny (noun)--Player who continually indulges in the extra time and keystrokes necessary for bargain shopping each facility or unit, while maintaining a six-figure energy reserve. "Chris may use the computer as soon as MR. BENNY finishes his turn." (May be incomprehensible to those under 40.)

Retroform (verb)--To send formers back over previously improved squares in order to optimize improvements subsequent to changes in rainfall patterns or the acquisition of new technologies. "Fort Capricorn had plenty of food after I RETROFORMED around it."

Leapfrog (verb)--To use a convoy of formers to place roads or mag tubes, as follows: Former #1 begins the road; Former #2 completes it if necessary; Former #3 moves over the new road to the next square and begins a road, etc. "Once I LEAPFROG a mag tube to Poodle Bay, the continent will be mine! Mine!"

Clusterform (verb)--Extreme LEAPFROGGING, generally in multiple columns. "What're ya doin' there, Phil--CLUSTERFORMING?"

Side Trip (Day Trip, Rest Stop, Pit Stop) (noun, noun, noun, noun)--Unscheduled stop by any gravship as a result of its suddenly veering off course into a base along its "move to" route. "Oh, great--my Super Fungicidal Singularity Gravship Former just made a SIDE TRIP into Fort Capricorn!"

Gravoperversity (noun)--Inherent tendency of gravships to make SIDE TRIPS, generally at the worst possible moment. "Due to GRAVOPERVERSITY, the battle for Poodle Bay was over long before the Stealth Singularity Nerve Gas Gravship of Death ever arrived."

Trashonym (noun)--An insulting or ironic name given to a captured enemy base; for example, any of the Seven Deadly Sins used as a name for a captured Believer base. "Hey, drone riots in Sloth--what an ironic TRASHONYM!"

Laffonym (noun)--An unusual name given to a base in the hope of receiving humorous messages later in the game. "Hey, look--'Fungus expands near Phil's Butt'! Har har har! Great LAFFONYM!"

posted 04-23-99 06:49 AM ET            

They are not that long, but the "All Quiet" one is so cool already !

posted 04-23-99 10:15 AM ET            

Anyone with new definitions is welcome to post them there.

If you wish to print the Dictionary of Smac in any of its incarnations, I reccomend the following procedure.
1. Make sure your printer is on, and that it has plenty of paper and ink.

2. If you are using Explorer, set your text size to "Smallest" by using the View menu then the Text Size line, then "Smallest". In Navigator, you should similarly set the text size to the smallest available.

3. Select Print from the File menu. Be aware that the Dictionary of Smac will take a lot of time and ink to print. It currently runs about 25 pages on my ink-jet. You have been warned!