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Velociryx
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of Candle'Bre
Apr 1999
time: 05:31
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You know what rocks? The forums for this game are still surprisingly active, and given the age of the game, and the fact that sci-fi has always been considered somewhat of a niche market, that is very, VERY good to see! I was pleasantly surprised by the number of views and replies this thread got after less than a day, and even more pleasantly surprised to realize that I still recognize some faces 'round here! 
'tis good to be back!
Since it's been a while since I've had the pleasure of playing SMAX, I was thinking....maybe I should start out on Citizen as a warmup? 
I looked back over the history of the last year of this forum and I must say, the folks who continued to work and discuss strategy here have REALLY taken things to the next level, especially with terraforming....highly specific, very exacting terraforming/base-spacement paradigms...no doubt brutally efficient, and that was always my failing....never had the heart of patience to sit down and wade through the maths to get at that ultimate level of efficiency....I'm sure glad others did tho!
Hmmm...and that makes two comments bout my choice of days to return, so yep...I'll fess up and admit that it was intentional....just thought it...fitting...
-=Vel=-
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Z|insane
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Quick Question? ACPSG ?? and ACDG?? What are those?
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Z|insane
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I'll look into it sounds like fun
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Hercules
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in Tir Na Og
Sep 2002
time: 05:31
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Heah good to see you post again.
Unless I am looking in the wrong place I find the (your) insight into the newer SMAC/X factions: Pirates, Cycon, Data Angels, Drones, Cult, just a tad lacking.
Maybe there is not more to add than what you have contributed.
Anyhow those are the factions I am exploring at the moment.
I think the original designers of the game didn't anticipate the crawler effect/impact on the game.
I think they thought of the game as most of us played it at the start, and that thinking (pre Crawler effect) determined the make up of the SMAX factions ie not being aware of the impact of the crawler on the game.
But I suppose that's life
Last edited by Hercules on 02-11-2003 at 03:48
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Velociryx
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of Candle'Bre
Apr 1999
time: 05:31
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Thanks for the continued words of....re-welcome? welcome...back. Whichever, I'm just glad to be here!
Too right on the observations re: the newer factions, btw....there's undoubtedly more to be said in all aspects of the game, but there especially.
To at least partially explain those gaps, I'll bring back to the fore some ancient history, 'least it's ancient here, in this place, where time is measured in picoseconds, but around the time SMAX came out--a bit before, actually--I croaked, did a temporary dance with the grim reaper, kissed the scythe, etc. Completely overrated experience by the way, and not one I'd recommend (don't try that at home!). So, if there's some....weaker spots in the guide as written, that's where they stem from. The stuff that was discussed in depth here benefitted from the collected wisdom of all the veterans of the board in those days, casting me more in the role of chronicler than anything else--though I suppose I did/do have a penchant for looking at old problems in a new light perhaps?-- so any mistakes found (and there are some), are mine entirely and no fault of the extensive analysis here! Back in the day, when this place saw several hundred posts a day, the level of detail and discussion was....staggering to say the least! It truly stretched everybody who participated. Awesome stuff!
And for the record, in MP, I'm always an easy mark. Proud of it, actually.  I lack the killer instinct that most of you posess--understand it in theory of course, and can talk at length about it, but I can't bring myself to be mean to the other player...), would rather spend my time making my Empire "pretty," or losing myself in the inner efficiencies and forgetting all about the competition.
Since the abovementioned experience tho, the clock ticks very loudly in my mind, so I don't actually play many computer games anymore. Some, sure, and I'll even binge once in a while (couple days at a stretch), but for the most part, I'm retired from playing and focused on leaving something behind. creating a game, and workin' on the next novel...always have time to talk the talk tho!
-=Vel=-
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Marid Audran
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Salt Lake City, Utah
May 2001
time: 22:31
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Always happy to pique your interest, Vel!  I've extracted the noveau faction stats straight from my SMAX folder.
The first faction, the Agrarians of Ceres, is sort of a hodge-podge of Spartan and Gaian ideology; the pacifistic tendencies and ecological know-how of the later, the isolationist self-interest of the former. This includes using planet toward their own ends; not really raping it for resources like a proper Morganite, but terraforming it into one big arable farmers' eden.
LEADER: {High Councillor Wren Norbury}
BACKGROUND: {New Zealand Agronomist; Unity Terraforming Engineer}
AGENDA: {Planned society; Harvest of Planet}
TECH: {Centauri Ecology}
We seek only to live in peace and practice our agricultural skills. For more people will come to populate this planet we now call home. And none are loved more or held in greater esteem than those who fill the stomachs of the hungry.
-- High Councillor Wren Norbury
"A Cultivator's Journal"
+1 POLICE: {Populace feels secure with citizen militas}
+2 GROWTH: {Nutrient surpluses and high-yield farms}
-1 INDUSTRY: {Limited space for factories}
-25% penalty when attacking: {Lack of aggressive military paradigm}
Robust EFFICIENCY: {Communal values; Emphasis on family}
GROWTH penalty doubled for GREEN economics: {settlers find co-habitating with fungus abhorrent}
Formers may raise/lower terrain at half the cost
{May not use Free Market economics}
The second faction, the Nautilus Mercantile, is basically a sea-based Morgan type faction. In terms of the SMAC narrative, they are in fact an opportunistic off-shoot of disillusioned Pirates and disenfranchised Morgans. They are pacifistic with a WEALTH agenda in AI terms.
LEADER: {Admiral Etienne Peraud}
BACKGROUND: {8th French Republic; Nautilus Commerce Director}
AGENDA: {Oceanic Energy Monopoly}
TECH: {Progenitor Psych, Doctrine: Flexibility}
While Svensgaard indulges in his Jules Verne and Bluebeard fantasies, the real power of Chiron's oceans remains untapped. Beneath Chiron's fungal expanse is a cornucopia of energy, the envy even of Morgan from his gilded terraces! All that's needed are the right tools and proper industries. Do you, as I, dare to dream?
-- Admiral Etienne Peraud
"Merchants at Stern" Lecture
-1 GROWTH {Long merchant expeditions away from families}
120% Tech cost: {Cramped labs; research grants at a premium}
125% Probe cost: {Computer techs behind latest encryption techniques}
150% Hurry cost: {Difficult to network industries at sea}
Extra DRONE per Six citizens: {Sea-weary traders miss comforts of home}
Penalty doubled for PLANNED: {Regulated economies breed mass smuggling}
Bonus COMMERCE from Treaties/Pacts/Loans: {Aquatic conglomerate}
2% INTEREST on energy reserves: {Trans-aquatic loans}
+1 ENERGY from fungus squares: {Attuned to xeno-energy resonance}
Bonus mineral from shelf squares, sea former/colony pod prototype costs waived, may eventually terraform trench squares: {Nautilus Pirate roots}
{May not use Knowledge values in Social Engineering}
I spent a lot of time fine-tuning these new factions, trying to balance their respective pros and cons just right, testing different tweaks in single-player and automated games run overnight on my computer (the stapler holding down the ENTER key  ). I finally think I've got it just right! Personally, it was worth it just to take those progenitor buffoons out of the random start-up permanently. Talk about a killjoy.  I hate it if diplomacy is rendered worthless with a faction, and dealing with those guys made Miriam look like the saint she preaches herself to be. 
Of course, I also play with a fairly modified alphax.txt and some substantial tweaks to the other five SMAX factions in a gestalt "re-balancing" effort. I'm obsessed with tinkering this endlessly exhaustable game!
Last edited by Marid Audran on 04-11-2003 at 13:21
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01-11-2003 03:26
Perhaps you can be beaten now, if you're out of shape 
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