06-12-2004 04:52									#1
	SMAC vs SMAX: what's different? Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

I played SMAC, but not SMAX. What's different in SMAX?

Thanks for your answers

	06-12-2004 05:27									#2
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More factions
More faction abilities
Additional native life types
More techs
More secret projects
More facilities
More weapons/armor/unit special abilities
Different bugs

	06-12-2004 06:40									#3
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More moddable too

All in all it is a very good expansion.

Too bad nothing is perfect.

	06-12-2004 13:34									#4
	Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

Extra Native Life:
Sealurk (Isle of the Deep with Submarine ability)
Spore Launcher (Psi Artillery)
Fungal Tower (Non-movable fungal Tower, which spawns extra fungus patches and mindworms in its vicinity)

Extra Pod-pop activities:
Battle Ogre Mk1: "6r-3r-1 Police" unit
Battle Ogre Mk2: "12r-8r-1*2 Police Diss" Unit
Battle Ogre Mk3: "30-12-1 *3 Police Diss" Unit
(Not sure about the Dissociative Wave and the Reactor types though).

New Weapons and Armor having to do with the new Resonance thingy:
Res weapons and Armor give +25% Psi Attack and Defense respectively.

Facilities:
Aquafarm (+1 kelp farm food)
Subsea Trunkline (+1 ocean mine minerals)
Thermocline Transducer (+1 tidal harness energy)
Brood Pit (+2 police, lifecycle bonus)
Covert Ops Center (+2 Probe Team Morale, +2 probe city).
Flechette defense system (+25% defense vs missile units, 50% chance to stop PB attack)
Geosynchronous Survey Pod (+1 sensor range city, +25% bonus to defense added to sensor bonus)

And some more, but these are the most important I guess

Special Projects:
Planetary Energy Grid (Free Energy Bank in All Cities, stockpile energy gives 25% more yield)
Cloudbase Academy (Free Aerospace Complex and Free fuel nanocells)
Nethack Terminus (Free Algorithmich Enhancement)
Manifold Harmonics (extra fungus Resources)

Special Abilities:
Fuel Nanocells (Extra aircraft range)
Algorithmic Enhancement (extra probe team chance of succes)
Marine Detachment (chance to capture enemy ships in combat)
Soporific Gas pods (-2 enemy morale vs non native)


Edit: Applied Changes in facilities as correctly pointed out by WotanAnubis. Added more new special abilities, added more facilities.

Last edited by Major Guz on 06-12-2004 at 20:33

	06-12-2004 17:00									#5
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quote: Originally posted by Major Guz Brood Pit (+2 police) Covert Ops Center (+2 Probe Team Morale)

The Brood Pit also grants a lifecycle bonus to native life built there and the Covert Ops Center gives the base a higher PROBE rating (which isn't much fun if you're playing the Angels).

	06-12-2004 21:26									#6
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Also one victory condition is added. The usurpers and caretakers (new alien Factions) can win by summoning their fleet from their homeworld (very cool ending movie by the way).

I think adding the alien factions to the game was a good thing (of course the aliens should not be played by human players, it gets too easy then).
Because of their ideology the caretakers cannot win by transcendence.

The new factions and their new abilities makes the game refreshing and a very good expansion pack.

I love the new "receive facility when appropriate tech is discovered" faction property. Makes much fun in custom factions.

	06-12-2004 22:13									#7
	Remove this text

And yes SMAX is better... and yes, the Cloudbase Academy is insanely powerful. Even in SMAC, you can kill the world by using almost nothing but gas choppers, but now even more so.

	06-12-2004 23:36									#8
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Here's the Alien Crossfire manual (in pdf format, zipped) so that you can see the additions for yourself

SMAX Manual

	07-12-2004 03:56									#9
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Thanks for all your answers

I guess it says me what it's a about.

	07-12-2004 07:21									#10
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i don't have SMAX, but i don't think i would like it anyway... it seems to me that the fine balance of the original is somehow lost in the exp pack...

	08-12-2004 01:25									#11
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Has the original smac manual been uploaded? All I have is the original CD in a plastic cover. I hope it didn't have as many errors as the SMAX manual.

	08-12-2004 01:55									#12
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Alex,

I thought the same thing and didn't buy SMAX for a long time, but I finnally did and I love it. I even bought the laptop collection just to have a backup copy. It is more customizable and you can mix and match the factions you use as well as edit them.

	08-12-2004 05:57									#13
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quote: Originally posted by Senethro Has the original smac manual been uploaded?

here it is

	09-12-2004 05:40									#14
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thanks once again Googlie!

	09-12-2004 07:45									#15
	Support Apolyton or Terrorists Win

quote: Originally posted by Alex i don't have SMAX, but i don't think i would like it anyway... it seems to me that the fine balance of the original is somehow lost in the exp pack...

I bought SMAX, and I don't regret it. The Aliens do add a new element of strategy into the game.

But somehow I find the original better balanced and it had a better feel to it. And the plot seems better, because you don't have to explain the other factions or aliens. It seems simpler with 7 faction leaders from the original ship. And the 7 faction leaders just seemed to fit with one another. It's hard to explain.

Perhaps I feel that way because I played the original first, and for so many games. I just can't get into the new factions. The originals are still the best.

	09-12-2004 10:47									#16
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Dissident, I guess I understand you very well. It's coherent, and the plot is not stretched to fit the game. The factions are simply something that makes sense, while giving each one a true identity something differentiating it from others, complete in itself. Each faction is really a regroupment of people of a certain ideology, a certain vision.

I liked SMAC
(and wonder when they'll finally announce a SMAC 2 )

	09-12-2004 12:28									#17
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I like to play SMAX with all original factions. Exactly as you say because of the feel to it.

From SMAX I especially love The "Unity" Wreckage.
Additional planet lifeforms like fungal towers and spore launchers I find quite interesting.
Some additional abilities are good too, like marine detachment. It is so awesome to send some old "marined" foil to catch some newest designed cruiser of an enemy faction.

quote: Originally posted by Trifna (and wonder when they'll finally announce a SMAC 2 )

I think it is more likely someone else will finally do a smac2-like game. I have impression that Firaxis prefers higher profits from civ line games. Still more people feel aversion to stuff labeled "science fiction"...

	09-12-2004 21:35									#18
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quote: Originally posted by Dissident IBut somehow I find the original better balanced and it had a better feel to it. And the plot seems better, because you don't have to explain the other factions or aliens. It seems simpler with 7 faction leaders from the original ship. And the 7 faction leaders just seemed to fit with one another. It's hard to explain. Perhaps I feel that way because I played the original first, and for so many games. I just can't get into the new factions. The originals are still the best.

Same for me here, I mostly play SMAX gameset, but with the original factions., it feels better playing that way.

	09-12-2004 21:52									#19
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quote: Originally posted by mart7x5 I like to play SMAX with all original factions. Exactly as you say because of the feel to it. From SMAX I especially love The "Unity" Wreckage. Additional planet lifeforms like fungal towers and spore launchers I find quite interesting. Some additional abilities are good too, like marine detachment. It is so awesome to send some old "marined" foil to catch some newest designed cruiser of an enemy faction. I think it is more likely someone else will finally do a smac2-like game. I have impression that Firaxis prefers higher profits from civ line games. Still more people feel aversion to stuff labeled "science fiction"...

actually I should do that. Play SMAX with the original factions. The unity wreckage is pretty cool. Fungal towers annoy me, but they add more challenge into the game. Early on you can't take those things out- at least I can't.

	10-12-2004 14:12									#20
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Add my name to the list of those who play SMAX with the 7 original factions. The best of both worlds. I rarely make an exception, usually to play the Pirates or something.

	10-12-2004 16:09									#21
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Personally, I play SMAX with a combination of as much pacifist factions as possible. I'm not a big fan of war since it always interferes with my production plans, so... yeah.

	11-12-2004 07:04									#22
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I frequently play SMAX with varying combinations of human factions. The Aliens are annoying and don't really mesh well with the rest of the game, and detract from the gritty near-future feel that I liked about the original. However, I do like the new SPs and techs.

	18-12-2004 04:54									#23
	Put an end to popups!

The last times I played it I would always have the factions randomly selected, then check the civilopedia-type thing to see who else was in the game and then restart until I was playing with 7 human factions, except for the pirates. I hated the pirates. I suppose there's a way to delete factions if you edit the game, but I never thought to do that.

	18-12-2004 12:29									#24
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I, too, SMAX (solo) with the SMAC-7, with an edited alphax.txt. Also, I've acquired quite a collection of custom factions, along with a few I've tossed together.