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Quezacotl06 is offline Quezacotl06
Warlord

Feb 2004
time: 05:17
  Old Post 07-03-2005 11:45
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oh ok, cause it said it doesn't work well with deidre. Doesn't take advantage of her efficiency and her nutrients.

Whitering is offline Whitering
Settler

Apr 2005
time: 05:17
  Old Post 06-04-2005 23:17
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I loathe having the pirates in a game, just loathe. It's way too over balancing if you play them, might as well play one of the aliens, if the comp plays them, well, transcendence is always faster than wiping out all of their crap bases.

I understand that the purpose of this thread is to rebalance the factions for multiplayer. I don't have too much to say about that as I don't have much multiplayer experience. I do think it's easier to take away from the SMCAX folks than add to the SMAC ones but here's what I came up with to help even things out.

Gaians - +1 support (ability to "live off the land" granola eating camping folk).

Morgan - When the comp plays him, I give him +1 industry (asian style efficiency in building). In multi player I don't believe he needs any boost.

Peacekeepers - immunity to planned SE choice. They are already penalized with -1 efficiency for being too beaurocratic, the negative in planned seems like a double whammy for being the exact same concern.

University - pretty darned good already but I have juggled the idea of giving them +1 income from trade treaties (sale of patents and technology). So, it could be a little bonus.

Spartans - +1 support, efficient military organization and infrastructure.

Miriam - +1 growth, religious objection to birth control.

Hive - +1 efficiency. Not that I think communist China to be a glowing example of efficiency (quite the opposite) but I couldn't think of any other bonus to provide.

That's what I ended up coming up with and I actually use this in all my games unless I happen to be playing one of them.

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Prince
of the town of ZZT
Dec 2003
time: 15:17
  Old Post 07-04-2005 03:32
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University - pretty darned good already but I have juggled the idea of giving them +1 income from trade treaties (sale of patents and technology). So, it could be a little bonus.

Hive - +1 efficiency. Not that I think communist China to be a glowing example of efficiency (quite the opposite) but I couldn't think of any other bonus to provide.

I think these two factions are the ones most accused of being overpowered. I think you're better off trying to rebalance ones like fungus boy.

Senethro is offline Senethro
Prince

Jul 2004
time: 05:17
  Old Post 22-04-2005 23:29
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Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

Does anyone think the believers might be better suited to the nodrone, 1 than the drones are? The effect of religion bringing about more consens amongst the population perhaps. Might make for a reasonable faction.

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Prince
of the town of ZZT
Dec 2003
time: 15:17
  Old Post 23-04-2005 06:28
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How would you show the workingman's paradise in the free drones then?

Senethro is offline Senethro
Prince

Jul 2004
time: 05:17
  Old Post 23-04-2005 07:22
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talent -1 :P

Maybe it would just be ignored for gameplay reasons because +2 industry is enough.

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Prince
of the town of ZZT
Dec 2003
time: 15:17
  Old Post 23-04-2005 18:07
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Talent -1 is a negative, isn't it?

Senethro is offline Senethro
Prince

Jul 2004
time: 05:17
  Old Post 23-04-2005 22:40
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Yes.

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Prince
of the town of ZZT
Dec 2003
time: 15:17
  Old Post 24-04-2005 04:13
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Do you're taking a positive away from the drones, and replacing it with a negative?

Senethro is offline Senethro
Prince

Jul 2004
time: 05:17
  Old Post 24-04-2005 04:39
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You are one for the questions, aren't you?

Actually, I'm not doing anything. I was throwing it out as a possibility and wanted commentary.

(the talent -1 was an attempt at humour at the concept of giving a new bonus to a faction I perceive as being overpowered)

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Prince
of the town of ZZT
Dec 2003
time: 15:17
  Old Post 24-04-2005 11:47
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Actually, there's an interesting thought: NODRONE 1 and TALENT -1 would make it really hard to get goldenages, but your bases would be quite stable.

Chaos Theory is offline Chaos Theory

King
Missouri / Misery; CC
Oct 2002
time: 04:17
  Old Post 25-04-2005 09:24 Visit Chaos Theory<br><a href=/members><img src=/forums/images/supporter-icon.gif border=0></a><BR>'s homepage!
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SOCIAL, -TALENT just gives you an extra drone in all bases. I'm not sure how this interacts with nodrone, but I don't think it would make golden ages much harder.

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Prince
of the town of ZZT
Dec 2003
time: 15:17
  Old Post 25-04-2005 13:08
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Hm, I was hoping it would make it harder to convert contents into talents. Coupled with making it harder to convert contents into drones, you have a largeley indifferent populace.

Cataphract887 is offline Cataphract887
Prince

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In Your Closet
Apr 2002
time: 00:17
  Old Post 04-05-2005 03:53
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that hive position in the ACDG is handmade and boosted.its not a random start iirc

for the angels,changing the +2 probe to just 1+ helps by not being as easy to get 4+ probe

Senethro is offline Senethro
Prince

Jul 2004
time: 05:17
  Old Post 04-05-2005 04:03
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Way to mess up the Angels further, though :/

I'd be tempted to give them something in return, such as impunity Wealth. Only a small thing, but I'm sure they would appreciate it.

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Prince
of the town of ZZT
Dec 2003
time: 15:17
  Old Post 04-05-2005 11:24
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Possibly better:
+PROBE and free CovOps centre at game start (even before PSA)

Senethro is offline Senethro
Prince

Jul 2004
time: 05:17
  Old Post 04-05-2005 12:07
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Heh, that would be good. I can already think of an exploit in that situation, imagine how good probe team defenders would be because of the high morale.

GeoModder is offline GeoModder
Emperor
The most erratic Overlord!
Jan 2004
time: 06:17
  Old Post 04-05-2005 21:55
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Early probes are better on the offensive then.

Maniac is offline Maniac
Emperor
Gent, Belgium
Jul 1999
time: 06:17
  Old Post 04-05-2005 22:41
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How about giving the Angels "immunity to mind control", and for the rest leaving all their probe boni the same? (Only mind control cost is affected by the probe rollover bug, not the extra probe team morale.)

GeoModder is offline GeoModder
Emperor
The most erratic Overlord!
Jan 2004
time: 06:17
  Old Post 04-05-2005 23:14
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That's an idea... and the more so for in the early game there's not a single faction that can bring up the energy to mindprobe units/bases anyway.

Senethro is offline Senethro
Prince

Jul 2004
time: 05:17
  Old Post 05-05-2005 00:36
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Geomodder: Except the Angels themselves. I've had some nice probe team rushes as the Angels. Just pop a 150ec pod then stumble across a size 1 base or a colony pod. Sham bam bamina, its yours.

GeoModder is offline GeoModder
Emperor
The most erratic Overlord!
Jan 2004
time: 06:17
  Old Post 05-05-2005 02:06
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Hey, you're the Angels for something eh?

Husky325 is offline Husky325
Settler

May 2005
time: 00:17
  Old Post 11-05-2005 02:44
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I made several changes to the original factions to make them a little better

Beleivers: Free Rec Commons
After all, the first thing these guys are going to build is a church, which in these games reduces the number of malcontented citizens

Hive: +1 Police ( as well as Immunity : Efficency)
Now Yang can have maximum Police right from the start (He starts with Doc:Loyalty which gives him Police State)

Gaians :
+1 Nutrients,Minerals and Energy in fungus
(not just Nutrients)

Morgan: I made the most changes here

* Increased the population cap from 4 to 5. Now they will be level with the others with Ascetic Virtues
* Changed ideal from Free markrt to Wealth -- Free Market is bad for Morgan, as he only needs Weath to get up to a +2 Econ
* +1 Industry and -1 Planet : After all this is a Industrial conglomerate that doesn't care for the envirornment

Spartans:
+1 Support
Immunity : Power

Peacekeepers:
Immunity : Democracy

University: Gave them Biogenetics and can choose yet another tech


Was thinking of changing Fundy to have negatives of
-1 Research and -1 Economy (less $ from 'sin' activity)

-1 Morale for PKs (I mean, these are UN troops)


I heard others talking about the Cult -- If it is weak (dunno never played them) they can be helped by
Free Brood Pit in each base at start
+2 (Nutrients, Minerals & Energy) in Fungus
(or maybe +2,+1,+1 or +2,+1,+2)

Chaos Theory is offline Chaos Theory

King
Missouri / Misery; CC
Oct 2002
time: 04:17
  Old Post 11-05-2005 08:05 Visit Chaos Theory<br><a href=/members><img src=/forums/images/supporter-icon.gif border=0></a><BR>'s homepage!
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quote:
Originally posted by Husky325
I made several changes to the original factions to make them a little better

Beleivers: Free Rec Commons
After all, the first thing these guys are going to build is a church, which in these games reduces the number of malcontented citizens


This makes the Believers very potent, and probably stronger than any of the SMAX factions except maybe the Drones

quote:

Hive: +1 Police ( as well as Immunity : Efficency)
Now Yang can have maximum Police right from the start (He starts with Doc:Loyalty which gives him Police State)


The Hive is very strong already and doesn't need doubled police effects.

quote:

Gaians :
+1 Nutrients,Minerals and Energy in fungus
(not just Nutrients)


The Gaians are a good faction, and this is very likely too much, but it's worth a try.

quote:

Morgan: I made the most changes here

* Increased the population cap from 4 to 5. Now they will be level with the others with Ascetic Virtues
* Changed ideal from Free markrt to Wealth -- Free Market is bad for Morgan, as he only needs Weath to get up to a +2 Econ
* +1 Industry and -1 Planet : After all this is a Industrial conglomerate that doesn't care for the envirornment


Might be a good idea, but there are those who claim Morgan is quite strong as a builder already.

quote:

Spartans:
+1 Support
Immunity : Power


The Spartans definitely need help to be on par with the other factions.

quote:

Peacekeepers:
Immunity : Democracy


The PKs are quite good already, and effectively granting them +2 support makes them very strong indeed.

quote:

University: Gave them Biogenetics and can choose yet another tech


The Uni does not need any help at all. Even among the SMAX factions it is very strong.

quote:

Was thinking of changing Fundy to have negatives of
-1 Research and -1 Economy (less $ from 'sin' activity)

-1 Morale for PKs (I mean, these are UN troops)


Do you mean you want Fundy to grant -1 Morale just to the Peacekeepers? You can't implement that.

quote:

I heard others talking about the Cult -- If it is weak (dunno never played them) they can be helped by
Free Brood Pit in each base at start
+2 (Nutrients, Minerals & Energy) in Fungus
(or maybe +2,+1,+1 or +2,+1,+2)

[/quote]

Having every fungus tile act as a monolith (or better after restriction lifting) would make for a ludicrously broken faction. Other than that, how do you plan to distinguish them from the Gaians?

Senethro is offline Senethro
Prince

Jul 2004
time: 05:17
  Old Post 11-05-2005 11:42
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The problem is I think some of those suggestions make the factions more "generic". I think the Spartans are more about elite warriors than hordes of warriors and so I'd be cautious about giving them support. It would also make them a bit too similar to the Believers. Impunity Power is spot on though. I'd even consider moving Value: Power to Adaptive Doctrine or similar as its ridiculous how late you get power compared to wealth.

Impunity Democracy would make the PKs just a bit strong in the early game. Perhaps "robust support" would be more appropriate, giving them the 10 free minerals per base but only one supported unit.

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King
Missouri / Misery; CC
Oct 2002
time: 04:17
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I'd say the Spartans could benefit from some extra support while retaining their flavor because, as it stands, it is difficult to use the Spartans' higher police rating while also fielding an army, since using all of +1 Police requires two garrison units, which also chew up all of the free support. Adding +1 support would allow the Spartans to either field a larger army for the same support costs (although higher initial costs), or have more garrisons than other factions.

Husky325 is offline Husky325
Settler

May 2005
time: 00:17
  Old Post 11-05-2005 17:33
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quote:
Do you mean you want Fundy to grant -1 Morale just to the Peacekeepers? You can't implement that.


Sorry, I meant that the PK should have -1 Morale as one of thier default features (not having anything to do with Fundy) and Fundy should be changed to
+Morale, ++Probe, -Research, -Econ

I am trying to make the original factions more competive with the new ones, while maintaining balance and faction character

quote:
The Uni does not need any help at all. Even among the SMAX factions it is very strong.


I haven't tried Uni in SMAX, if they are strong, they should be left the same


quote:
The PKs are quite good already, and effectively granting them +2 support makes them very strong indeed.


Agreed, also thinking of giving PKs -1 Morale (as I mentioned these are UN troops and pacifists)


As for the Cult, How about
+2 Planet
-1 Ind
-1 Economy
Free Brood Bit at start
+2 Nutrients in fungus
start with 1 mindworm unit

Again, I haven't played the Cult, this is just an idea. I thought they were supposed to be an radical offshoot of the Gaians

Senethro is offline Senethro
Prince

Jul 2004
time: 05:17
  Old Post 11-05-2005 20:10
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-1 econ is probably equivalent to -1 research in that it disables the benefits of wealth.

Most of the PKs problems occur in the early game. I don't think it would be a good idea to throw in a morale penalty as well, especially when they can make one for themselves with wealth easily.


My own tweaked version of the cult was regular cult and +1 police, +1 mins and energy in fungus giving 1/1/1 with centauri ecology and brood pits moved to an earlier tech.

derail: brood pits would be awesome if they arrived in the time of High Freemarket, were cheaper in minrows, offered some base defense vs psi, and in an alpha.txt in which psi units were at 66% of current cost.

Even if they just arrived earlier a free marketeer with +1 police another way from a different source could use them as a mini-punishment sphere to allow units to leave territory.

johndmuller is offline johndmuller
King
Capitol Hill, Colony of DC
Feb 2001
time: 00:17
  Old Post 13-05-2005 12:23
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It seems to me that nearly all of the factions are playable enough for decent players in PBEM/MP. That is to say, that while the computer plays only a few factions well, a good human player can make a go out of it with most of them. A really good player, like Buster or Flubber, or ______, could probably let you pick their faction for them and still beat you.

Different people bring out different aspects of the factions; that's one of the things that make this such a good game.

Each of us has factions that are more and less suitable to our natural styles of play; that does not mean that another will have the same favorites and rather-nots. The computer, of course, has markedly better luck with Yang than with Santi, while human players fare much better (althouth she is not a real big favorite with most humans either).

Of course, in any form of MP, diplomacy is arguably more important than the various faction attributes, and some of the seemingly less desirable factions make quite desirable allies.

It seems to me that Sister M is the one faction that is rarely requested in PBEMs; that might make her a good candidate for a facelift, but perhaps that is just my own style hangup; the Believers do lend themselves to certain styles of play - particularly early aggression and heavy probing - quite well.

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Prince
of the town of ZZT
Dec 2003
time: 15:17
  Old Post 13-05-2005 17:00
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I'd say the 3 that need beefing:

Miriam
Santiago
Cha Dawn/Chewed On/Chow Down

 
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