Alpha Centauri 2

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri & Alien Crossfire => Modding => Topic started by: BFG on January 20, 2013, 06:39:27 PM

Title: Removed, or undocumented, techs/units/facilities/projects/etc. in SMAC/X?
Post by: BFG on January 20, 2013, 06:39:27 PM

I've been reading up on how to modify alpha.txt or alphax.txt, and have come across several undocumented, removed or otherwise interesting entries.  These include:

• The Comments state there are only 13 AI "plans" for units (0-12).  However, plan #13 is used for a Tectonic payload, and plan #14 for a Fungal payload.
• Two techs, "Inertial Damping" and "Global Energy Theory", were removed late in development.  These are the two "deleted" techs in the alpha/x.txt tech list, but their audio files and icons still exist.
• There is a missile-style icon available in the art files which is never used in-game.
• An ability called "Heavy Transport" (which increases transport capability by 50%) was programmed in but never implemented.

Has anyone found anything besides what I've listed above?  Kyrub and others who have looked at the code itself - have you found any programming for other abilities etc. that are not at all documented in alpha/x.txt?  Any suggestions on how/whether to add these back into the game?

Title: Re: Removed, or undocumented, techs/units/facilities/projects/etc. in SMAC/X?
Post by: Petek on January 20, 2013, 11:09:13 PM

In the #WEAPONS and #DEFENSES sections of Alpha(x).txt, there are references to projectile and energy weapons/armor. Neither type was implemented.

Title: Re: Removed, or undocumented, techs/units/facilities/projects/etc. in SMAC/X?
Post by: Flygon on January 21, 2013, 02:37:52 AM

Quote from: Petek on January 20, 2013, 11:09:13 PM

In the #WEAPONS and #DEFENSES sections of Alpha(x).txt, there are references to projectile and energy weapons/armor. Neither type was implemented.

Just a note, this was also documented in the instruction manual. Though, it wasn't much detail, apart from tables defining which weapons were Energy, Projectile, and Missile (yes, Missile). There was only Energy and Projectile armour... which makes how Missile would be defended against all the more confusing.

Edit: To elaborate, the missile class weapons were Missile Launcher and the Shard weapons (6 and 13), not the unmanned Conventional Missiles.

Title: Re: Removed, or undocumented, techs/units/facilities/projects/etc. in SMAC/X?
Post by: BFG on January 21, 2013, 04:21:34 PM

Thanks.  I had actually heard about the projectile/energy/binary system Firaxis was thinking about, but never implemented.  Anything else evident in alphax or other text files?

I'd also love to hear from anyone who's looked at the actual code to see if there's anything that's programmed in but does not appear in any of the text files.