Get in here and discuss!Favorite faction?
>>1276952as a kid? Gaiansas an adult? Believers
I usually end up playing Spartans, Gaians or Morgans.I saw on reddit some dorks trying to fit the smac leaders into a political compass but is it just me or are the leaders way more flexible than that?For example the Spartans. I could see them as a straight up military dictatorship, or a starship troopers-like democracy or even militaristic communists. Not like latin america is short on communist guerrillas and Santiago even has being part of a communist group for short while in her official biography.
Why you kids keep making threads for this dead game?
>>1277362>but is it just me or are the leaders way more flexible than that?They are, as is evidenced by the only restriction in social engineering being a ban on one policy or AI factions having only one policy they like.
>>1276952Morgan is my main, although the morale and police penalities are absolute pain in the ass, still becomes a absolute powerhouse in the sensory-overload hell that is the lategame. Also Hive is pretty good, these days being myself already into the hyper-collectivist spirtualism that Asia has, so Yang touches my itch nicely on that need.My current playthroughs are me to Lal try to vassalize everyone US-style but Yang is going bananas on Deidre, reaping her tech and managing to be ahead of me on that matter, while i'm stretched thin on troops to fight both him and Godwinson (who somehow manages to smack away my air with morale alone). Feel like dropping this one and go for my other runThis time with Morgan. Spawned alongside Zacharov and later he attacked me and took my HQ, at least he sent me a blood truce and now i'm licking my wounds while tending my merchant exchage and rushing for worms (first time i'm going to use for real)
Previous thread:>>1141027https://pastebin.com/QgEvG3ET>Higher resolutionAdd DirectDraw=0 in the .ini file for SMAC or SMAX - it will make run the game at the desktop resolution; the only graphical drawback is that in the "customize random planet" menu the background won't be animated.>Higher resolution & UI improvementInstall PRACX patch https://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?topic=14308.0 which is running for SMAC and SMAX. Adds:- windowed mode,- higher resolution,- viewing tiles by hovering over them (V hotkey),- potential yields view in the base view,- alternative map view modes (elevation, rainfall, rockiness, faction territory),- smoother zooming and scrolling.Besides disabled "customize random planet" animation it also makes the mini-map view box unresponsive to the scrolling.>In-game help updatehttps://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/comprehensive-datalinks-update.291246/ - corrects and expands the description of techs, abilities and so on. Available only for SMAX.>CPU usage fixSome people report high CPU usage, this fix works with SMAC/SMAX:https://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?topic=20433.0>SMAX vanilla conversionhttps://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?topic=17869.0 - allows to play SMAC in the SMAX engine by removing all expansion assets.>Unofficial patchesSeveral fan-made patches fixing bugs and improving AI:https://alphacentauri2.info/wiki/Category:Unofficial_patches>Custom factionsNot an exhaustive list. To enable a new faction in SMAX you need to open alphax.txt, find #CUSTOMFACTIONS line, and add the name used in the new faction .txt file like this:#CUSTOMFACTIONSFACTION, FACTIONNo more than 7 custom factions can be added at the time.In SMAC you can only replace existing factions (plus features introduced in SMAX won't work).https://alphacentauri2.info/My%20Custom%20Factions/Custom%20Factions.htmhttps://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=downloads;sa=view;down=102
>>1277394Really though, if you play the Hive with anything but police state/planned/power/thought control, you're doing it wrong.
bump
Anyone plays with huge map? I try it because i like huge world and more massive civilizations but in SMAC it looks like "efficiency" mechanism isn't built for that. Also war becomes really exhausting but i guess I should've expected this. Maybe i have to play with "tech stagnation". Also for some reason with thinker AI, Deirdre becomes very op in huge map, just covering the world with lots of tall cities and completely crushing me who struggle to get a city even qualify for hab complex.
>>1279649I always end up with forever wars with yang
>>1277375Because it's not dead? People still play it
>>1277608>>1277608What about guides for noobs?
>>1280694how can he wear a suit when he's just a head?
>>1279649>Also war becomes really exhaustingYeah, but pretty much everything becomes really exhaustive.
Would have some advice on how to play tall in SMAC, gentlemen?
>>1277362most of the leaders are way to open ended with a lot of their politics to be thrown on a standard political compass. The only certainties in the OG 7 is morgan being on the absolute far right economically and the yang gang being unquestionably authoritarian. I suppose miriam would be on the more authoritarian side due to the theocracy but nowhere near as bad as a full fledged police state and lal being the only balanced individual who isnt completely batshit insane would be reasonable and moderate towards the center of the chart
>>1280849Have you played any Civ game?
>>1281120>political compass
>>1277143As a successful adult, Gaians again but this time not out of ignorance. Our Secret War is just!
>>1281307Never!
>>1276952Any resources for a complete newcomer?
>>1281311Why can't you faggots go back to your containment thread
>>1282398The user manual.
>>1282497>>1282398That's not a joke, that BOOK is very useful.
>>1282698>Provost ZakharovIt's useless.
>>1282487never
>>1279649Deirdre gets INSANE efficiency bonuses. Her starting tech is also optimal for starting growth early, and she gets less shit from the native life. If there's no other factions to limit her (peaceful) growth, there's really nothing stopping her from blobbing early and far.I guess environmental scientists are kind of useful in an alien ecosystem.
>>1276952>Favorite faction?Gaians. Not for gameplay reasons, I just think the faction leader is cute.Kinda hate Yang because he tends to be the only one capable of opposing me in the lategame.
>>1281626Then the manual. After that play tutorial scenarios coming with the game.
>>1276952University.>>1281120Sensible chuckle.jpg>>1281344>Crom High>but it's the SMAC cast and it's set on PlanetUnironically fund this right now.
>>1279649You can buy military intervention from other AI factions, provided they don't like your target. The war will last forever (said faction receiving payment will refuse to peace out until the other has been eradicated). It might be a good plan, the AI overall isn't great at multitasking.
>>1279649>Also war becomes really exhausting but i guess I should've expected this.>>1283776In addition, you can ask AI to attack a specific enemy base.
>>1279649>FLAGRANT, obvious skill issuePermabads gonna bad, I guess
>>1282698kek
>>1282398play Deirdre, ez win
>>1276952I wouldn't discuss a single faction; I would listen to what Pravin Lalhad to say, and that's what no one did
>>1285469Pravin is no saint!
>>1282702He's pretty useful if your faction is retarded at research.
>can't play as anyone other than Yang ever since i've found out that he's the only one objectivelly morally correctanyone share this feel?
>>1281120How does Miriam run a theocracy without being a police state? What does she do with dissenters and disbelievers?
>>1285469kek
>>1286468>you can't have any sort of law enforcement without a police statebroalso isn't it obvious? stonings
>>1286468don't need a police state to burn the occasional high-profile heretic, and the masses will happily burn petty witches for you
>>1286468But why would there be any disbelievers? After all, the fact that Jesus died for you is a taken for granted fact of living here. Otherwise would you cousins (all thirty of them), parents (just two), grandparents, siblings (ten! mom is in line for an award), all insist in following religion? And you did have to memorize Bible passages to graduate primary school, why would they do that if it wasn't real? Not to mention church service on Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, why would anyone do that if it weren't real? That'd be an awful waste of time if God wasn't real anon, and no society would just waste that kind of time worshipping some made up thing, would they?Of course, there is dissent obviously. Some pastors think you should only have service for two hours on Sundays! Real rabble rousers those progressive types, eh? But there's obviously no need for policing to prevent them from having their say, these kinds of rigorous theological debates are important to better understand God. Sure, occasionally you might run into some infiltrator from another faction spreading atheist dogma (clearly there are no atheists among the real Believers, I mean just look at the name!), but these people are pretty easy to identify and turn over to the proper authorities. No, not the military or the police, just hand them over to the priesthood. See, once you spend some time rigorously debating the subject these misguided souls often end up converted, since the light of God is just so obvious once you open your eyes. And the priesthood is prepared to have those debates, its what they train for after all. Obviously, however, atheists do tend to rely on spurious and circular arguments like asking for proof of God's existence so these debates are boring. And, if they are enemy probe team operators, possibly dangerous too. So its in the public's best interest that they occur behind closed doors between professionals.
>>1276952Now that I play it as an adult, it just seems obvious that the Spartans are the best faction. Start with rovers and morale advantage. Rush towards impact rovers. Kill everyone. No other faction comes close, unless you impose restrictions like "no rushing until Turn X."
>>1286007Yes
>>1277362>picUsed to be the ultimate tomboy waifu of mine. Good times
>>1276952Lal has become my main lately. The free talent in each base makes basespamming more practical (I like autistically filling up space on small maps), and makes early game Free Market possible on Transcend without needing Rec Commons or Psych funding.
>>1287593t. gigashitter perma bad
>>1286924radically different ideologies
>>1288252nigger I will fill up my continent faster than I fill up your mom, nobody can build colony pods and nothing else like Lal. Just a few scout patrols and also recycling tanks from grabbing unity pods.
>>1288302
>>1288522IM SORRY SISTER MIRIAMI FORGOT TO DISSENT
>>1288522If there's one complaint I'd have about AC is that the AI has no sense of aesthetics.They will build the ugliest landscapes every single time.
>>1289243That makes them more human-like.
>>1286468What's so difficult about it? You give the heretic a fair trial before an impartial judge, where he is guaranteed legal rights. If the evidence shows him to be guilty of heresy, safeguard his basic human rights in prison.
>>1289312This is peak aesthetic compared to American suburban sprawl.
>he didnt become one with the tankngmi
>>1290542This reminds me>Qunatum Drop HovertanksThe unit workshop was such fun, Age of Wonders: Plantefall only comes a tiny bit close to it.
>>1289312where the fuck is that
>>1290854Mexico City
>>1290542IT IS EVERY CITIZENS FINAL DUTY
>>1293188TO GO INTO THE TANKS AND REPEL THE FASCIST INVADERS
>>1290960>Mexico City used to be comfy (routine ritual sacrifice aside) lake city>Spanish conquistador comes along>rape and kill inhabitants>drains the lake because reasonswhy
>>1293237Tenochtitlan aka inland Venice surrounded by lush forests and mountains turned into a dystopian hellholeThey managed to do even worse in PeruSpain deserves to sink into the ocean, its culture and history erased from history forever
It's been over twenty years since I last played this game and I remember almost nothing.Is there not even an options menu to change settings?Also, I seem to cannot install the scient patch because it complains it can't write/access the arialn.ttf file and therefore I can't install the PRACX patch. what gives?
>>1294096Why would you need to change perfection? The sacred brooks no improvement.GOG release is patched.
>>1294129I mostly want to change the resolution or play windowed mode. But I suppose I can do that with an .ini file. German localisation would be nice, but I can probably manage without.
>>1294096Assuming the Mandalore video is still up do date, he lists some modern improvements available to the game.
>>1294167Take a look at any modern media translated into German and tell me again you want it to happen. You know they're going to butcher the stuff.
>>1294836I've played the German localisation over twenty years ago, it existed. The GOG version just doesn't have that. The Sid Meier games up to Civilisation V have great localisation. Imo, the voice acting for the discoveries in Civ V was much better in German than in English.
>>1294129kek, saved
>beloved cult classic known worldwide>ZERO game content made by fansWhy? Is it because boomers just don't produce, only consume?
>>1276952bump
any mods?
>>1298911None, hence my comment. >>1297720This pic is just a ruse.
Alpha Centauri is DEAD
>2023>still no SMAC remake>not even a remasterJust fuck my shit up
who killed the captain?
>>1300085Santiago
I've played this game probably thousands of times over the past decades, and like 80% of the time I still go with Zakharov on a huge map of Planet. It's so comfy bros, I don't have to worry about building a base every 5 seconds like Yang or sticking mindworms in my pussy like Sister Gaia.
>>1277362The leaders can all be placed on Political Compass, yes. The issue is separating the political nature of their ideals and their subsequent approach to governing their people. Then there is also as you are somewhat suggesting depictions of leaders in which there isn't a very stable political ideology. That said, they all are somewhat archetypal of some or another political or social ideology, if not in whole then in essence:Yang: Communist police stateDeirdre: Eco-socialismMiriam: Militant theocracyLal: Representative democracySantiago: Military authoritarianismMorgan: Corporate plutocracyZhakarov: Technocratic dictatorship
is it your duty to go into the tanks anon
>>1299982Spiritual Sequelhttps://store.steampowered.com/app/287580/Pandora_First_Contact/
>>1300654>All Reviews: Mixed (499)I am going to need some redpilling before trying this one out.
>>1300312Why, though?
>>1300410i'll piss in the tanks
>>1301353mixed is fair. it's flawed but you'll still have some fun with it.better than herbert and ransom's pandora series desu
>>1301361the others could bend the captain to their will, only santiago would need violence
>>1301353Better than Beyond Earth. Soulful if a bit of a caricature. The only legit game-breaking bug is diplomacy: AI is so totally schizophrenic that it keeps accepting white peace every 2nd turn so you're pretty much invulnerable if you try to exploit it.
>>1301361She wanted to be the boss because she's secretly a bigger control freak than Yang.
bump for smac
>>1302872>bumpjust bump? Why not give it a good SMAC?(Also, I love it too, but if there is nothing to discus, then perhaps 24 years old game doesn't have to have general up all the time.)
what do you lads think of Beyond earth?
>>1303119yea prolly better off dead for nowmaybe itll goes up again when or if OpenSMAC finishes>>1304379dumb
>>1304379>SMAC is all about ideological conflict. With the earth lightyears away nation state warring doesnt make sense, yet humanity still squabbles. >Ironically the unity fell apart because it made political sense on earth to have a weak but handsome leader>what makes SMAC interesting is that it follows these ideologies to their natural end, even gives them new problems to wrestle with, like cloning, eternal life and aliens>beyond earth moves earth state politics into space>ideological, ethical and moral questions are boiled down to bethesda levels of incompetence. Press A to fuck aliens, B to hate aliens, C to kinda be okay with aliens
>>1301353The game has one, clear, strength to it. Arguably some of the best AI in any 4x game. The AI plays less like a roleplaying faction and more like a human in a multiplayer game, its aggressive with expansion, very good at making their cities efficient, and it will fight effectively, making smart usage of their armies and tactical powers in all stages of the game. I do not believe I've read anyone beating the AI on the hardest difficulty settings, though almost no one plays it these days. If you do get the game make sure to download the fan-patch, it makes the AI slightly less gamey in some regards and fixes outstanding issues
>>1299982You think you want it but you really dont
>>1304379>Here's a game with astounding ideas. While not flawless, it is overwhelmingly intelligent, well made, and thoughtful.>...And here's its generic "sequel."
>>1277608Wow thanks anon.
>>1298937fuck me it's hideous
>>1304379a worse SMAC made by people who did not really get SMAC
>>1276952>Shilling a game with ZERO Authright leaders (except maybe Based AntiVax Mommy Miriam)>You can only play as a feminist, muh science guy, a fucking NIGGER, a commie (KEK), a literal curry (TOP KEK LADS), and a fucking biased inaccurate muh strong Spartan womanHow much are you lads in wigs getting paid to shill this agenda’d crap?
>>1305489>ZERO Authright leadersSpartans, tho
>>1305489poltrannies like you don't even get the chance to ACK yourselves and instead end up as worm food
>>1306117>>1305489hmm
>>1306117>poltranniesbruh stop feeding the shitposters, i don't think he's from /pol/he's just been seething since /vst/ decided to shit on vicky 3 and decided to turn into a caricature of a 2016poster
>>1277362>political compasshonestly when will the obsession with putting political ideologies on some kind of graph end. it's not an intelligent or useful shorthand way of visualizing political differences. which is why every political compass discussion immediately devolves into arguing over definitions and context and interpretations. It would honestly be more straightforward to just use words in a table to describe it lol. but i feel that even the content of a 'typical' political compass, which is comparing 5-10 world leaders or figures on the graph, would be overwhelming for most people if put into words. People are not really capable of reading 1-2 paragraphs on 5-10 people without losing interest and continuing to scroll reddit.
>>1305489How do you know Yang isn't a Chang Kai Shek or Duerte?
>>1308286Yang is an interesting mix of chinese legalism with Mao style cult of personality and collectivism and WEF eat ze bugs lifestyle
>>1308386Although the coolest thing about Yang is that you can't really pin any definite ideology on him because his ideas are completely alien to us. His idea of collectivism is extremely radical in that it pretty much transcends individuals and he believes that humanity should be some weird gestalt entity in which individual members aren't real human beings. He treats individuals just like we treat our organs or limbs and fingers, just a part of a greater whole. This mixed with good VA and great writing makes him very charismatic and compelling bugman.
>>1308400Come to think of it, there is a contradiction between Yang having a pretty distinct individuality and the ideology you are describing.Of course, Yang must necessarily be an individual due to the constraints of having to be an appealing character to the player. The writers did a good job considering this limitation
>>1308602It's not as contradictory considering the hive are very open about treating the common dregs purely as biomaterial to be gene edited and disposed of once they are useless while at the top of hive Yang's inner circle get to live in luxury, raised with education and permitted to self express. It might be either to show hive as hypocrites not too dissimilar to our shithole dictatorship or it might also be a nod to Plato's Republic where the elite are the brains and soul of the society while everyone else are their slaves just like how our body is slave to our mind.
>>1308082>i don't think he's from /pol/I don't think that poster actually believes that the other post is actually from /pol/
>>1276952>>1297720>boomersYou mean born in the 1940s and 50s or did you mean Gen X because fuck you.
>>1276952has someone modded a fucking tech tree into this game already?ffs this is the only reason i want a remastered version.
>>1309819Blind research is the intended way to play
>>1309819Though the song of yesterday fades into the challenge of tomorrow, God still watches and judges us. A tech tree lurk in the datalinks as it lurked in the manuals of yesteryear.
>>1309819It was always an ingame option? Or at least every version I ever played had it.
>>1305489>ZERO Authright leadersDid telepathic worms clean out your cranium boy? Other than Myriam you have Morganites, Cult of Planet, Usurpers, Spartans. Also the University is kinda authright seeing as they don't give a shit about the drones
>>1305489>clerofascist Miriam>military dictator Santiago>Provost "Unit 731 did nothing wrong" Zakharov>human genocide didn't happen+they deserved it Usurpers>zero authright leadersmaybe stick to HoI4
>>1310008>>1310968cope trannys
>>1297720the fanbase are not autistic enough, there was an attempt at making RE SMACX but that went nowhere
>>1297720Low energy
>>1310968Usurpers are very evil Auth Left though.
>>1276952i am having great fun feeding quotes from SMAC into https://beta.elevenlabs.io/this voice is made out of a combination of the darkest dungeon narrator and other random voice sampleshttps://vocaroo.com/1jubFah1KSIR
>>1277608I'm having problems running PRACX. It looks like I just have to rewrite the .ini but I can't find what that's supposed to look like. Should one be Enabled <DEFAULT> and the other Disabled=0 or does it not matter?
https://vocaroo.com/1iU95Bcsusxy
>>1322357Just run .exe to override files in the folders.
Obviously in the game, all the factions have different ideologies that are very divergent and are extreme versions of something IRL. The most compelling thing about the game is the exploration of these ideologies via the characters and how it interacts with the storyBut in some major ways the characters, despite their ideological differences and beliefs about how society should be structured, really have major similaritiesThey are all basically positivists, with the minor exception of Merriam in only some ways, who spend their in-game quotes explicitly advancing and defending their ideas through the use of reason and argument. The in-game quotes are attributed to essays or speeches which we are to assume in full are larger exhortations exploring their ideology in this logical and evidentiary way. The assumption they are all making is that there is a universal (applicable to all) 'best' social ideology that should govern all humanitySo in many ways, even Yang and Lal are operating on the same plane - they're just arguing about who is correct. Even Merriam, who is the outlier in the sense of being religious, nevertheless spends most of her time talking less about God as such and more about cautioning against the reckless advance of technology and questioning the virtue of progress for its own sake. That is just philosophical and materialI see why its this way - this is a fundamental assumption in our societies today, and indeed appeals intuitively and intellectually to the liberal upper middle class & educated types who made this game in the first placeIt would be interesting for contrast if there was a non-rational ideology in the game. Something like a fascism which isn't universalizable - literally all they believe in is their specific group is superior in a Darwinian sense or being victimized and they want to destroy you, and make no portends to having a universally applicable belief system. Something that comes purely from the gut and only applies to them
>>1326431honestly good post anon and i get your point that all the characters in the base game essentially express themselves in a academic debate team way and that means they share some like fundamental assumptions about what theyre doing there, but your entire point is contradicted by both the alien life on the planet and in the alien crossfire expansion
>>1326437Fuck.
>>1326439Kek
>>1326431What about Spartans? All Santiago talks about in her quotes are tactics and strategy; the 'hows', not the 'whys'. The closest they have to an ideological expression is the one quote where they say that there will be ward on the planet. Which is all well and true but is it enough to split off? Why not just stay as members of the UN?
>>1327753>All Santiago talks about in her quotes are tactics and strategy; the 'hows', not the 'whys'.She's got one.>The tragedy of Earth is not that so many died. Death is an inevitable part of life. The tragedy is that so many died as victims. When the crisis came, they were helpless, unable to use their deaths to buy anything of value. Millions of otherwise intelligent people had been tricked into ignoring a fundamental truth: that no man has any rights if he is unable to personally defend them.
>>1327898Should be noted that this quote is from supplementary materials and not the game itself.But the GURPS stuff is pretty good so I'm not saying "it doesn't count" or anything.
>>1328100In that case, I concede.It's amazing that the GURPS material is such a great fit. Did the original writers contribute or something?
>>1326431You confuse rationality with universality. Putting that aside, it's not really a surprise that the ideologies are universal, that's the basis of the setting and the factions. In any case, every ideology in history, even the most hare-brained ones, have explained themselves through logic and reason. Whether those stand up to actual scrutiny is another question entirely.
>>1328121It's pretty much the only meaningful quote Santiago has, and it's in a fucking GURPS supplement. Spartans received no love in the game. Even Miriam was given more attention and nuance.
Bump. This is one of my favourite games of all time. But is it possible to do anything to disable sea bases or sea colony pods? I don't like how the AI spams bases non stop and in the end game the entire planet is covered. I feel like it would make a big difference if there were only land bases, or maybe a cap on the number of bases the AI can build.
>>1331411you should be able to edit Alpha.txt in the SMAC folder to remove or prevent them from being built
>>1304379Cool units, lame everything else
Is it just me or does the game message has the bent towards the transcendence?
>>1326431They aren't always exactly extreme, though, if you think about it.Problem with faction leaders is that they are indeed faction leaders, that is to say they have their own goals and things, but in spite of their obvious competence and excellence, none of them are actually thinking like pure leaders exactly.Scientists can think in many ways, but Zak, for instance, while obviously contemplating humanity's future (they all do) looks at as something between a research opportunity and a personal operation.They're all like that. They focus on their own ways at the expense of grander vision in just the right ways that they miss something a more proper autocrat, king or a president wouldn't.
>>1332383its pretty explicit actually, the game's story at its core is eco-sci-fi and vindicates the Gaians PoV more than any other by a pretty big degree
>>1285768i never understood why tf morgan doesnt get +2 economy instead of +1
>>1305489go back robbie
>>1332383Science Victory is always the canon victory in Civ titles.
>>1276952There's a guy who makes these on DeviantArt. i think they're swell.
>>1323951https://vocaroo.com/1euTsu9uIZ5bhttps://vocaroo.com/11DUCFmjSL6hhttps://vocaroo.com/102rQD33p5jK
>>1333764>santy is a womanletkek, when will they learn?
>>1332457I don't recall it now, but doesn't SMAC has both transcendence and a separate science victory?
>>1334146No. There's 4 victory types:Conquest: Capture / destroy every base of every non-allied factionDiplomacy: Use the Council to have enough people vote for you as Supreme LeaderScience: Build the Transcendence secret project at the very end of the tech tree (simply researching everything doesn't win the game on its own).Economy: Amass tons of credits and click the "Corner the global energy market" button.SMAX adds a new victory condition for the aliens, where if one of them builds Fleet Beacons in 10 of their bases they win because they're able to call in overwhelming reinforcements from their home planet and everyone else surrenders in acknowledgement.
>>1334163Ah, right.Speaking of SMAX, losing to aliens truly is a rather grimdark ending.While the leader imprisonment cutscenes were always bothersome (why would they always do this, why not just execute or make a house arrest) that's just straight up horror story.
AYY
>>1337533nice
>>1337533Now I can't stop imagining the Morgans expanding until they form an alliance with the Teladis.
>>1337533careful anon... as soon as that guy steps outside the borders, Morgan followers will immediately toss their porcelain dinnerware across the room and flip over their rich mahogany tables in pure madness
>>1304379It suffers from the same problem that Civ 5 did. SMAC is lucky in that it has a nice simple Civ 2 core, which meant the AI was capable of at least brute force play, and so SMAC is still a big challenge on the highest difficulties unless you know what you're doing. But in Beyond Earth, the AI is incapable of even the most rudimentary play, so it's all rather pointless. It's a big shame because the presentation is quite nice and there were a few interesting ideas there, like the webbed tree and the trade routes.
>>1338780Morgan Medical offers a wide variety of calming therapies suited for both business owners, and employees.
>>1308400>Although the coolest thing about Yang is that you can't really pin any definite ideology on him because his ideas are completely alien to usThat's what I like about Yang too. The midwit take is to say he's a gommunist taken to the extreme because he's a Chinaman and wants you to eat ze bugs and get recycled into comradeslop when you die, but if you believe that his Essays On Mind And Matter and Looking God In The Eye manifestos are sincere, he's really more like a Daoism except the central tenant isn't taken from the Dao Dejing but Also Sprach Zarathustra.
>>1339859that's the thing though. what's great about the leaders in smac is that you really don't know how much of the insane shit they truly believe. are they just power tripping or are they true believers. the game seems to hint that it's both but it's by no means conclusive.
>>1333875What does the chinese in the second one mean?
>>1333875>>1323951kek
>>1339875>There are HOW many consumers in that market? And now there's no competition from Blizzard?!>Excuse me, what I meant to say was>Without the Communist Party there would be no New China>The Communist Party strives for the nation>The Communist Party is dedicated to saving China>Bing chilling (ice cream)Canonically, Morgan Enterprises has a gaming division and they only make shitty anime waifu jpg gachas. Canonically. I won't hear any disputations from secondaries about this canonical objective FACT.
>>1276952Can i send probe teams at a faction im in a treaty(or pact) with without triggering a war? playing on iron man and cant test it myself without consequences
>>1341766Depending on probe morale and secret projects the odds vary from failure to framing another faction for the operation.For details see here:https://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?topic=2761.0
>>1300398Your summation of the leaders' views is totally accurate, but the issue is that the political compass itself is a very dumb way of """mapping""" political ideologies (as if they ever needed to be mapped in the first place). If anything it is *less* accurate / provides a less clear picture than a simple straightforward text description of what those respective ideologies believe and stand for.WHY do political ideologies 'need' to be visually mapped? What value does it add? It doesn't make differences between people more clear. Instead it increases the pedantic potential for bad-faith readings or misunderstandings. For example:>Is Miriam left or right wing? she's religious and militant which we would often associate with the 'right wing', but theocratic states can also tend to be collectivist and even egalitarian regards to ethnicity, background, etc. (left wing). >Is Lal 'center'? Is liberalism the center? Center of what? The center of all ideologies? Isn't that just kind of us assuming that liberalism is the 'default' ideology because its basically been the dominant ideology of the Western world since like the 19th century? He's a liberal, so he presumably believes in the right to own property / businesses, which a Marxist would say is de facto endorsement of exploitation which would make him a 'reactionary' right-wing. Conversely a /pol/ pepe would call him a filthy lefty because he probably is liberal on social issues as well.>Is Morgan an authoritarian if his society is less a government and more of a dense network of inter-serving for-profit corporations in which everyone works for and consumes from? Is that not technically voluntary transactions and association not coerced by the state? So does he go on the top or bottom? As you can see it just adds a bunch of meaningless pedantic "implications" . I hate the fucking political compass. It's so autistic and for 14 year olds.Just read fucking books you fucking faggot compass fuckers
What's the proper solution of the lmao question - to join the stronger faction against the weaker one to gain a powerful ally, or support the the weaker one to keep the stronger one busy?
>>1344049Learn it from the example of Commander Shepard and the Illusive Man, and their usual responses towards problems like Batarians.Ayy lmaos in SMAC are not nice.Singularity missile is the only way.Kill them all, imageboarder.
>>1344049The perfect solution is pesticide.
>>1323951>>1333875>https://vocaroo.com/1iU95BcsusxyI kneel
>>1345135>Nerve gasRight, I forgot that atrocities against ayys don't count.
I want to enjoy this game again but it feels so shit knowing how busted ICS is. Like I just feel like a massive retard if I'm taking my time planning cities and build orders out and whatnot when the optimal strategy for every single leader is to just shit out a carpet of cities as tightly knit as possible. Not to mention it's fucking miserable to play because now you're managing 300+ cities individually.I wish someone would backport Civ IV's maintenance mechanic so I could have comfy SMAC ludo kino again. I'd do it myself but I get the impression SMAC is a pain in the ass to mod and it'd be too ambitious for my blood.
>>1351042>but I get the impression SMAC is a pain in the ass to modYou will never know unless you try.
>>1351042One could argue that it's not optimal if it takes so long to micro that you get bored and fail to play the game to completion.Personally I just hate seeing extra cities inside the city screen, so I commit to building only outside the fat cross of existing cities. If you also then build around fungus and rocky terrain you end up with a decent spread, and yet still way more cities than the AI.
what are some good smac mods?
>>1354266uninstall.exe
>>1301353
>>1356931Does it really have no mods?
>>1357306Correct.Beloved game received no mods. It is a puzzler.
>>1286468>>1281120reminder for the retards in this thread that miriam wrote a book named "WE MUST DISSENT"
>>1344006In having formed our language to differentiate and categorize we have developed a need to place things in some assigned place. Such categorizations are often imperfect, some consider the need to narrow said categories and to create further more categories for increasingly specific criteria. Others believe that categorizations flaws make them increasingly irrelevant in the face of the complexity of the universe and such categorical distinctions should be done away with. So we find ourselves contending with three paths the need for ever increasingly precise language and terminology to encapsulate increasingly specific categories, we could simply accept the failures in our languages and abiltiy to completely categorize, or to do away with strict categorizations, in doing so we must question if such distinctions were truly important to begin with. Our language often mirrors our reality, but can the opposite also be true? Can we alter an individuals perception through words alone? How much can we change about ourselves and our perception of reality through language alone? Also I am fucking drunk and want to jerk off to the ginger lady
>>1304379The art direction is amazing but everything else sucks. It’s a very shallow mod of Civ V
RIP SMACX thread
>>1369252sad
Is smac better and has a better ai than civ4 with kmod?
>>1371585Basic Civ 4 has a better AI than SMAC.
>>1333875>I mean sure, I'm whipping orphans on the side
>>1300654>>1301353this game's main redeeming factor is it has some of the strongest, non-cheating, AI in a 4x game. >it will hyper optimize its city layouts>it will pursue good technologies>it will create combined arms armies >it will make effective usage of its support and orbital assets to spearhead a multi-pronged invasion of your territory>it will recognise your military tactics and act to counter them (too much artillery? it spreads its forces out. Not enough anti-air units? it will now send an airwing to punish it)>it will punish you for not keeping up with miltechthis does mean the AI is diplomatically schizo and will turn on you the moment it senses weakness
>>1373692>this does mean the AI is diplomatically schizo and will turn on you the moment it senses weaknessMy impression it will also schizo agree to a truce even when winning.
>>1276952overrated junk for pseuds
>>1374324to its credit I've never had the AI try to peace out when its clearly winning the warit will start begging for peace when its losing the war though, alternatively it might try to peace out if another AI declares war on it and its losing that warto be fair I've only played the game on the latest fan patch which fixes a few outstanding issues and improves the AI some more, which is something I'd recommend you download if anyone plays the game (its on top of the steam forums)
>>1374437>to be fair I've only played the game on the latest fan patch which fixes a few outstanding issues and improves the AI some moreHuh, I was not aware of this. The problem is definitely there in vanilla.
>>1351042>Not to mention it's fucking miserable to play because now you're managing 300+ cities individually.Can't you appoint the automated governors?
>>1376854Yes, but someone who is worried that they're playing sub-optimally by not doing ICS is also too concerned with micromanaging each individual city instead of trusting the governors to do a good-enough job.
Bump
I dug up my save from half a year ago https://archived.moe/vst/thread/1141027/#q1178511. It took some time to readjust, but i got a hold of it. Miriam took a couple of Yang's bases in 2 turns in a row, while he keeps his hopeless struggle about tiny Lal's forces. Meanwhile Miriam has encroached on Morgan Entertainment, but there is no way I risk breaking our truce by asking to vacate my territory.
tried to get into this game twice but its just too archaic >no option to see full map yield and resources>if you want to upgrade town have to click and check exploited tiles remember them, close it and look on map with your "worker">obscure not explained game mechanics>unclear controls,all options are hidden behind layers of menus>cant easily see entire tech tree>terrible UI and hidden information which should be visible all the time>barely any mods which help to fix itit was too much for me and i consider civ4 as fully modern game
>>1382196Aerial combat against Zakharov has been horrible despite his tiny production capabilities simply due to the outdated wargear on my jets. I did managed to clean up his sensors arrays, though. In 5 turns I almost got in a position for an assault: two 4-cargo transports loaded with marines were headed for Korolev Center, while I landed 4 missile rovers in Nadezjda-Hope to strike at Lomonosov Park. The turn before his artillery engaged in combat with Deirdre's but despite the much superior basic attack value (8 vs 5), it lost due to Deirdre's better morale and higher altitude (her base is on a crater ridge while he was positioned at the bottom). When the first rover moved out against Lomonosov, he asked for an audience which I decided to entertain. First, he threatened me with his 8-3-2*2 rovers, and proposed a truce. But after my refusal, he immediately offered his surrender. Getting Korolev with the incredibly valuable (against Believers) Hunter-Seeker Algorithm was my main objective, but sealing the gap in technology was enticing as well. So I decided to do both - I accepted his surrender, and immediately asked to cede Korolev. To make absolutely sure it follows through, I proposed to exchange it for a worthless sea base I captured a while ago with nothing in it.
>>1382221>>no option to see full map yield and resources>>if you want to upgrade town have to click and check exploited tiles remember them, close it and look on map with your "worker">>barely any mods which help to fix it>>1277608>Install PRACX patch https://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?topic=14308.0 which is running for SMAC and SMAX. Adds:>- windowed mode,>- higher resolution,>- viewing tiles by hovering over them (V hotkey),>- potential yields view in the base view,>- alternative map view modes (elevation, rainfall, rockiness, faction territory),>- smoother zooming and scrolling.>Besides disabled "customize random planet" animation it also makes the mini-map view box unresponsive to the scrolling.
>>1382221>>if you want to upgrade town have to click and check exploited tiles remember them, close it and look on map with your "worker"So, uh, do the nu-civs do something different?
>>1382573worked tiles have slightly more highlighted yield icons, anyway its not even about that but about clarity, tiles in SMAC are hard to read and all tool tips are in inoptimal position require you to focus every time you want to check it
