Lets Play SMAX!

[NewAgeOfPower]

Hello everyone!

I've been searching for a unmodded ALPHAX.txt, since I lost my original while working on my mod (uncomplete, only 2 factions done)

(click to show/hide)

For those who are interested, the mod is a 'What If' Alastair Reynold's type scenario.

The mod has (slightly) more efficient monoliths, more powerful late game armors, and reduced the rate at which oceans will rise from planetforming, and probably modded other things too- but I haven't been able to find one.

Anyways, screw it, these changes affect everyone equally (and I'm not using modded factions), starting SMAX with the mods.

I will playing as your local Russian Mad Scientist, with the original SMAC cast. No custom factions will be used.

 The Cast



Planet is Large, with 30-50% surface in Ocean, 2 Moons giving average rate of Erosion, abundantly populated with Native Life, and life on Planet is BRUTALLY HARD.





I hate techstag, personally. I love the coolness of Hovertanks and Skybases!
DO OR DIE TIME!



Oh yeah, mother always told me to eat some apples

The endings:

(click to show/hide)

First Ending http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?topic=2320.msg9921#msg9921
Second Ending http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?topic=2320.msg9941#msg9941
Third Ending
Fourth Ending

[NewAgeOfPower]

The first few years are... Interesting.

First, I open up with the standard beeline. I think I'll go for IndEc route, lets play it safe...

What? 2 Pods??? Must be my lucky day...



And... Jesus christ...



The second pod... this is outrageously lucky. Its on my beeline too...



Thats it. Building former on University base now. I send my colony pod further, and it stumbles into...



Usually, I stockpile Artifacts to rush very expensive techs, especially when I am near the Universal Translator Tech. However, I am feeling lucky today- setting up base, (Endisto Unity) and



... Must be karma for all those times I randomly got mind-wormed...

My former finishes, and begins moving towards my second base, building roads and I think I'll go with Trees this game... Then an ugly anti-science redhead sticks her face in my com-channel, demands Centauri Ecology for her world map.

I laugh. I counter by offering to trade it for her Social Psych... which she accepts. She then offers me a treaty...





I know how this is going to play out within the next 100 turns. I need to scout her out and calculate how many impact rovers I will need... But for now, mass bases. What do you guys all think? Accept for now? Thats what my gut (and a dozen games) tells me)...

[NewAgeOfPower]

I uh.. one more turned a bit. And forgot to take screenshots.

Oops.

I built a network of bases rapidly, using my Pod/Former/Recyc Rinse Repeat cycle, but the density of fungus is preventing me from ICSing. I rushed a few facilities, since the money is pouring in. I think I'll switch to heavier research SE settings once I get a few crawlers running.

Switching to Mines/Forests due to the heavy fungus preventing me from going pure forests.

Anyways, this is what the world looks like:

[NewAgeOfPower]

I now own Miriam. I used "get off my lawn" twice to force her to declare war on me first.

I think I'll take Deidire next.

[Green1]

I have inspired folks Glad to have company on this kick.

University... interesting choice. Awesome research but drones and probes can mess your day up.

You did luck up with Centari Ecology first off bat. Kyrub and I think Scient were talking AI beelines one time and how it did not work well forcing them, but I personally facepalm when I see an AI 30 turns in without CE!

MSPaint works fine, but be sure you open it or even the freeware screenie apps BEFORE opening SMAX on some of our gfx cards. You will not be able to tell you are posting bad colors until you quit game and look at your thread in horror. The colors will still look messed up when you tab out in game, but they will be actually recorded right and you will see that upon closing SMAX. Only SMAC/X does that though. I will have to crank up another Win 98/95 era game and see if it is just pre Windows ME era stuff that does that.

I also noticed your beeline gets crawlers ASAP.

I usually with Zak go Centauri Ecology and then beeline Secrets of the Human Brain for free tech.

We missed a lot during your OMT one out. Don't worry. These 4X games make me one, too LOL!

Also, looks like Santiago is kicking some tail somewhere. Having rovers right off can do that.

EDIT: Not tab out, I mean quit game then look at your thread when describing screen capture/SMAX procedure. Corrected.

[Green1]

Oh yeah... and holy jesus buddha crawlers! Then again, your avatar is a smiley face crawler IA logo!

MP folks put out that many crawlers?

[NewAgeOfPower]

Yeah, drones are insanely difficult to deal with on Transcend, until you figure out that you should leave most of your bases size 1 until you grab HGP or Virtual world. This forces you to mass-expand, which is good, because bases are the most efficient square, early game.

It works for me. I haven't played MP, but crawlers are almost like free citizens... Within 100 years I have my core bases cranking out 40-50 mins/turn. My record so far was 800/turn, but that was just mass producing skybase crawlers and having mass produced boreholes for kicks...the sea level rising though, was absurd- rising over 5000 meters in 10 years? wtf?!?!

[NewAgeOfPower]

Ah crap. I forgot to take screenshots yet again.



After I Miriam agreed to be my slave Pact mate, I grab FM. With my 20-40-40 SE settings, and Wealth, I quickly accrue about 1000 EC over 10 or so turns, and my populations boom. Golden Age at almost every base. I grab a half dozen or so SPs.

I'm getting the bureaucracy warning though (with new bases), so I switch Wealth to Science! (okay.. Knowledge) and my research rate remains the same, although my income drops dramatically.

Deidre threatens me, asking for Adv Ecological Engineering. I check my infiltrators- yep I can crush her. I laugh in her face, telling her to go away.

She says, fine, be like that. I sadface.

Some worms wipe out 3 of my crawlers, blowing up a mine. I send my Veteran Scout Patrol against a tiny mindworm... and he dies. Yeah, forgot I was running FM. >.> Sucks when you haven't played in months. Santiago builds the Supercollider, when I can't even see it on my tech tree!!! Grarggggrhhhh (This is a mini disaster for University)

Morgan calls me up, basically begging to treaty with me. 327 EC, power level = Feeble. I tell him to go away, then he offers me 325 EC to treaty. Sure... a few turns later, Yang erases his face from Planet.

Quickly realizing Yang could call and win Governorship, I crank out Empath Guild and switch to Green. Bribing Deidre with Adv Ecological Engineering, she pacts up with me (although is still ambivalent) and votes for me. I win Govenorship.

About 10 turns later, Deidre turns on me, abrogating our pact. We are still treatied though- and my forces are ready to punish her- but she won't pick up the phone!

I connect a land bridge to where I suspect Yang lies, and I see the borehole cluster! Chaos Needlejets scream down, eat my scouts, and begin attacking my eastern bases. Luckily for me, the AI is stupid dumb, and I park a few rovers to eat his forces. With Xenoempathy Dome and a sensor, Yang's forces are stuck in the mud while I abuse Monolith healing to rotate my forces.

He tries to crank out Planetary Datalinks. I realize I've actually given out a few T4 techs to other players, and I really want to be mean, so I cash in a half dozen supply rovers and snipe it. Yang takes Planetary Transit instead. Then, I finish researching MMI... and I have a dozen or so supply rovers lying around, stacked up...



Uh, I think I've won. I mean, sure, Deidre is ready to backstab me, except my army will crush hers in about 5 minutes (but I can't do anything to her, since she refuses to talk to me so I can't break our treaty... Unless I lose my Noble status. Hmm) and practically everyone else is at war with me, but... I have not only Cloud City but the Borg Factory too... And I have the edge in tech...

[NewAgeOfPower]

After repeatedly violating her territory with my troops, she angrily called me up and told me to pull out.

So I tried talking to her again, and voila! She picked up. I tell her to get out of my face and she declares vendetta... Predictably:



Despite her seething anger, she got on her knees and swore to serve me.

I really, really, think I won. If this game is boring... Please let me know. I'm getting a headache from hundreds of units.

Anyways, how do you guys want me to win?

By sword? [Conquest]
By votes? [Diplomatic]
By money? [Economic]
Or by Destiny [Transcendence]

Please vote below...

[NewAgeOfPower]

And this happens...



SPARRTTAAAAAAAA

[Buster's Uncle]

You gonna have to whoop some Spartans....

As I told Green, Conquest is probably the most dramatic sort of victory for this sort of thing.

[NewAgeOfPower]

Do you want a side of Nukes? I might be able to get the UN charter repealed (after I build 20 or 50 Orbats, of course)

I spent 440 EC rushing a destroyer probe team. It will take 3 turns to get to the nearest Spartan Base.

I hope she doesn't finish the HSA before then. That SP is CRITICAL to the University.

[Buster's Uncle]

I guess some PBs would make nice screenies...

[Buster's Uncle]

Oh - and I posted this for you: http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=downloads;sa=view;down=99

[Green1]

Do you want a side of Nukes? I might be able to get the UN charter repealed (after I build 20 or 50 Orbats, of course)

I spent 440 EC rushing a destroyer probe team. It will take 3 turns to get to the nearest Spartan Base.

I hope she doesn't finish the HSA before then. That SP is CRITICAL to the University.

Hunter Seeker is needed for University. Almost more so than Virtual World. Otherwise, an enemy (even the AI) can just leech tech.

But.. hmm, a destroyer probe team? Does that get any benefit over foil probes for the cost?