Difference between revisions of "ACWiki:Custom faction design"
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Using fitting language in diplomacy and other texts really helps immersion. And avoiding simple mistakes (e.g. spelling) is easy enough to do. | Using fitting language in diplomacy and other texts really helps immersion. And avoiding simple mistakes (e.g. spelling) is easy enough to do. | ||
| − | === | + | ===Tell a story=== |
The story SMAC(X) tells, and the vivid personalities of the factions/leaders, are a great deal of what makes the game special, and a living classic after so many of its contemporaries are long forgotten. Put some serious thought into personalities - how the graphic and diplomacy text can convey them. The leaderhead, logo and bases can all convey personaliy, as do the basenames and various bits of the faction text. That's half the secret of making a good faction. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well. | The story SMAC(X) tells, and the vivid personalities of the factions/leaders, are a great deal of what makes the game special, and a living classic after so many of its contemporaries are long forgotten. Put some serious thought into personalities - how the graphic and diplomacy text can convey them. The leaderhead, logo and bases can all convey personaliy, as do the basenames and various bits of the faction text. That's half the secret of making a good faction. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well. | ||
[[Category:Guidelines]] | [[Category:Guidelines]] | ||
Latest revision as of 19:57, 6 February 2013
Principles of good custom faction design. Note that these do not all necessarily apply to joke factions or factions which are just imports from another fictional universe, and are somewhat personal, though mostly based on the principles the official factions seem to follow.
Contents |
Have a philosophy
Especially if that philosophy somehow fits with the SESocial Engineering settings available, this makes the faction much more interesting to play with and against storywise. Making a clear and consistent philosophy is key to a good faction.
Have a preferred playstyle
Giving a faction a set of attributes which steers them towards a specific style of play introduces welcome variety into the game, especially if it's as distinct as possible from other factions.
Keep the bonuses focused
Nothing is more ugly than a faction which has a large number of bonuses thrown onto it seemingly at random. Each bonus should strongly support either the playstyle or philosophy/flavor of a faction, and not be included just because why not. If you look at official factions you'll see they all have amazingly few attributes, yet all have their own philosophy and feel when playing them. Don't bloat your factions.
Keep it balanced
It's fine, even encouraged, to have a powergaming version of your faction (add AI to the end of the text file name for that version) in order to up the challenge when the computer uses it, but the standard version should have a power level comparable to official factions in order to not make the game too easy, and encourage MPers to accept their use.
Use appropriate graphics
Not everyone knows how to make good and fitting graphics, and it's understandable if you'd rather ask for help than learn it all, but having nice graphics adds a lot to a faction.
Pay attention to flavor
Using fitting language in diplomacy and other texts really helps immersion. And avoiding simple mistakes (e.g. spelling) is easy enough to do.
Tell a story
The story SMACSid Meier's Alpha Centauri(X) tells, and the vivid personalities of the factions/leaders, are a great deal of what makes the game special, and a living classic after so many of its contemporaries are long forgotten. Put some serious thought into personalities - how the graphic and diplomacy text can convey them. The leaderhead, logo and bases can all convey personaliy, as do the basenames and various bits of the faction text. That's half the secret of making a good faction. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well.
