My Custom Faction(s)

[ComradeCrimson]

I just realized a potential problem with using EFFIC to limit to one base: EFFIC does not affect energy income from specialists.  So -EFFIC is better than nothing...but the faction can be played with more than one base.

Not sure if that can be fixed without .exe modding.

Well; at the very least- I will be playing it as a singular city state in my playthrough I plan for it. The only way to really prevent it from expanding is to ensure that it doesn't have the option to produce more colony pods.

[Yitzi]

I just realized a potential problem with using EFFIC to limit to one base: EFFIC does not affect energy income from specialists.  So -EFFIC is better than nothing...but the faction can be played with more than one base.

Not sure if that can be fixed without .exe modding.

Well; at the very least- I will be playing it as a singular city state in my playthrough I plan for it. The only way to really prevent it from expanding is to ensure that it doesn't have the option to produce more colony pods.

And even that doesn't preclude conquest.

[ComradeCrimson]

I just realized a potential problem with using EFFIC to limit to one base: EFFIC does not affect energy income from specialists.  So -EFFIC is better than nothing...but the faction can be played with more than one base.

Not sure if that can be fixed without .exe modding.

Well; at the very least- I will be playing it as a singular city state in my playthrough I plan for it. The only way to really prevent it from expanding is to ensure that it doesn't have the option to produce more colony pods.

And even that doesn't preclude conquest.

Unless there was an "Auto raze/add population to home city" type thing.

Again though, I'll at least be role playing it this time round so it shan't be too much an issue. And I suppose it'd be some sort of confederal power/loose alliance of city states for when it does expand to other cities, the murderous efficiency keeps expansion slow at the very least.

Question, concepts for architecture for the Unity and Pathos Bastion?

I thought of a Hellenistic/Classical type style for the Pathos Bastion but I am unsure on what to use for them for certain. I just know I want them to have a very "cultured" look whilst looking somewhat monolithic and impressive, while the Unity should be starkly militaristic and very hostile looking, maybe with spotlights and very much looking like a barbed wire military zone.

Any other thoughts, or suggestions for graphics to use? I am willing to consider using ready made graphics if they suit my purposes.

[Nexii]

As long as you're not at war with everyone you can gift the base away.  Or let it starve to 1 and pod it to 'exodus' back to the capital.

[ComradeCrimson]

I added a poll for those interested. Please give me feedback people, I greatly appreciate your thought and advice and want to craft something interesting!

I should also add these factions, gratus given I am a voice actor, will have fully voiced blurbs/qoutes so you will be able to hear what these characters sound like.

I'll be working on images of these fellows soon enough, and I am considering thought of yet another faction, but I will need to think carefully, I want to approach a realistic avenue of approach for an ideal suitable to Planet, and to also fill a void that is not covered by existing factions. If you are interested in that prospect, please, I welcome all your ideas and suggestions. What would you like to see? What is something lacking in our custom faction database for thoughts and ideas, for ideologies or faction types not covered?

[Nexii]

There's no faction that values Wealth in the original set - maybe you could create a faction that does.  I mod Wealth to be more growth/talent focus lately rather than econ/ind.  Depends how you interpret it I would see wealth more as putting focus into letting your population live well.

[ComradeCrimson]

There's no faction that values Wealth in the original set - maybe you could create a faction that does.  I mod Wealth to be more growth/talent focus lately rather than econ/ind.  Depends how you interpret it I would see wealth more as putting focus into letting your population live well.

The only issue with that is we already have custom factions though up like House Satori and a few others... though I might have a unique idea.

We have many different factions that are all about supporting wealth in some way shape or form and that they are often pictured as destructive to the environment in their pursuit of building wealth and capital, and even more socialist equivalents of acquiring wealth tend to have this similar slant.

So I got thinking... what has not been made before?

A Wealth faction that is rather green.

And thus the following faction is the result.


Faction Name: Planet Pioneers

Leader: Janvier Matapang

Background: Philippines Free Sector, Unity Oceanographer and Marine Biologist

Agenda: Wealth

Aversion: Power

1+ Green (Many followers are green thumbed and environmentally intuitive)

2- Police (dislikes despotism or strong senses of authority)

2+ Minerals for Fungus squares (Environmentally friendly and symbiotic resource extraction techniques)

Free Skimship Foil

Penalty to Police (Janvier dislikes despotic systems of control, as does his followers)

Starts with Doctrine Flexibility

Aquatic Start

Backstory and ideological focus:

Janvier Matapang was born in a turbulent time in the Philippines. Born to a modestly wealthy family, he grew up and had a strong passion for science and nature. The Philippines at the time of the late 2030's was a very unstable region. Climate change and political instability made the Philippines a rather split region constantly under aid by the UN and other organizations due to rampant flooding. The US had largely withdrawn as well due to pressing matters at home, and a power vacuum was left in the islands to where powerful despots and juntas arose in place of the American backed government.

His natural interest in science and nature along with the pressing matters of his country, Janvier underwent extensive education and was determined to help his nation and solve problems such as resettlement, food shortages and other persistent problems by founding a green corporation. He however met lots of opposition from despots in his country who hoarded over land and resources. Coming up with techniques to pioneer resettlement on aqautic settlements and his invaluable inexpertise with this led him to being selected for the Unity mission, much against his will initially as he wished to stay on Earth and help it.

Eventually though with worsening conditions he was forced to accept. After the Unity mission crisis Janvier took his own escape pod, not agreeing with Morgan or Deidre's camp, thinking that Morgan was too reckless to the environment and Deidre was too out of touch with her Earthbound ancestry and humanity.  Founding his own faction, Janvier's Planet Pioneers decided to etch their new civilization upon the principle of building up a stable economy and acquiring resources to advance their colonization effort, whilst keeping environmental damage to a minimum and if possible developing technologies to better accommodate to living on Planet's surface.

[ComradeCrimson]

Aiming to get the graphics for each faction done within this weekend at some point, what I want to know from you folks is what would fit for each faction, graphics wise and theme?

The one's I am having the most trouble figuring out is the city graphics for the Pioneers and Pathos Bastion.

[ComradeCrimson]

Here's the graphics for the Unity, or Army of Humanity as they proclaim themselves.

I wanted to make Rodderick a character who is both sympathetic, but also terrifying in his own right. A tragic character really, I wanted to make his faction ghastly as much as crushingly sympathetic: as he's a monster born out of the nuclear hellfire and societal collapse of what was Earth. A man driven to the utmost extremes, to remove human will and free thought to preserve humanity as a whole against planet mind and humanity's own self destructive tendencies. Someone who once was a good man, was driven to his complete edge and breaking point when the Unity mission failed. He would've been one of the people to vote to keep the Unity mission together to keep the mission united to ensure humanity was safe. The combination with the horrors of Earth, the hostility planet showed him and the fracturing of humanity as a whole would lead to Humphrey Rodderick, former UN peacekeeping soldier and a relative hero who was responsible for channelling people into the Unity project to save them and responsible for safeguarding it when all hell broke lose, to lose his mind and have it be replaced by a cold, psychotic paternalism that wants to eradicate free will as we know it. 

This is the Unity.

It is the Army of Humanity.

Submission is the only route to survival.



Let me know your thoughts and criticisms. I tried to honour the original style of SMAC with proper video lines and logo schemes to make it feel fitting to the setting.

[ComradeCrimson]

Any thoughts on this one folks? I'm working on the Pathos Bastion at the moment; still trying to figure out what'd be a good city for them. Keep in mind this will be the only city they have in the game so its gotta be an absolute pearl in terms of looks; something monolithic and impressive. I'm thinking of something very tall with a lot of arches perhaps...


Edit: I've decided to add another bonus to the Unity faction as well, a high psi combat bonus to help them survive against planet better since it's got -4 planet, which would summon demon boils and other nasty stuff to attack them relatively early on; but not make them too overpowered when fighting other factions.

I was also thinking of a potential bonus for the Pathos Bastion as well, something specific like free prototypes, a habitation dome or possibly some sort of research benefit because as a single city they are going to have a lot of issues compared to other factions what with a slow start, only having one city and a multitude of several city destroying and improvement destroying weapons and tools at a faction's disposal of which can hinder them; based on a few tests I ran with them.

Won't be a large bonus but I definitely think they need some sort of bonus to give them a leg up to catch up to and match other factions who can create more cities.

[ComradeCrimson]

Well, things have been tough real life wise but I am back baby! I will be picking this up and finishing this, and getting that youtube series out.

Just a question though, how does one edit the personal photos of the faction leader? I'm talking like the ones showing their child photos and career that flashes on the odd screens.

Also, where would I post a lets play for this? I'd like to make a proper forum discussion hotspot for when I do make the lets play, but I don't know where to place it.

[Buster's Uncle]

Search for .flc instructions - should be in the early pages of this folder.  It's an old obscured format, and it's murder to do anything with - I think only chuft and Kilkakon ever whipped it, though I spent a lot of time trying seven years ago.

We have an AARs sub, so you could do it there or Theory of Everything...

Tell Jarl I say hi...

[ComradeCrimson]

Search for .flc instructions - should be in the early pages of this folder.  It's an old obscured format, and it's murder to do anything with - I think only chuft and Kilkakon ever whipped it, though I spent a lot of time trying seven years ago.

We have an AARs sub, so you could do it there or Theory of Everything...

Tell Jarl I say hi...

Roger that. I'll see if Kilkakon knows and look up different stuff. I heard he also knows how to make custom voice acting work, had something to do with file format is what Jarl told me but that was a while ago.

As for Jarl himself... he hasn't been responding to me. Was hoping to catch him here but it seems for naught. His computer may be down or something. Ain't too sure.

[Buster's Uncle]

The email he gave the forum has stopped working...

Lessee, Kil's asleep right now, but he'll be up in about five hours, and I left him a Skype message that you're looking for him - he's on regularly.

[ComradeCrimson]

The email he gave the forum has stopped working...

Lessee, Kil's asleep right now, but he'll be up in about five hours, and I left him a Skype message that you're looking for him - he's on regularly.

Thank you kindly. And yeah, it kept giving me an error when I tried emailing him.

Irregardless though, thanks for notifying Kilkakon for me. I will say that part of me is reconsidering the Pathos Bastion a bit in terms of ideology and preference, but I don't quite know what route to take them than their current one. All I know is that I'd want them to represent the idea of fostering talent and human development in a rather city state like format, sort of where either private individuals, the community or the state could foster and patron people in a sense and improve their abilities, harness the full extents of human potential. A patronage faction in a sense where one's talents and other such things are cultivated; the talents varying as to what they could be. In game terms it'd be a specialist citizen focus or empaths essentially.

And if they do make more cities, the goal with them really for anyone or the AI playing them would be that they wouldn't make very many cities, if any besides their capitol.