23-12-2004 18:48									#1
	newbie (oldie) questions Support Apolyton, buy Alpha Centauri

Hi everybody,

I started a smacx game yesterday, after a few years from the last time I played it.

Now, there are a few things that I can't remember how to do (I'm not even sure if they are possible).

1) How can see the SE settings of another faction (I'm the PG)?
2) How can I see the diplomatic status (truce, treaty, vendetta) of a faction in relation to the other factions (again, I'm the PG)?
3) Does it happens only in the Linux version (I don't have the windows version anymore) or the AI really builds too few bases, even at transcend level? I mean, I was playing civ3 in the recent years, and the AI loves ICS (at least compared to smac/smacx).

	23-12-2004 19:37									#2
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First off congratz, and welcome back.

1. Click on "Contact" menu, right click on the faction you want to view and it will give you an option to view that factions status.

2. Same as above.

3. It is true the AI stinks. It doesn't ICS at all, it will tend to drop bases that either add territory, or on landmarks. I don't remember Civ3 ICSing, but I only played for 2 weeks then gave it away in disgust.

	23-12-2004 19:55									#3
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations

AI ICSes on Monsoon at Transcend very often..
And with quite a tight ICS..

But for 1&2 - didn't know them either!

	23-12-2004 20:12									#4
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Thanks for the answers!

I was almost sure 1&2 were possible, but I could not remeber how to do it

I think smac/smacx is much more complex then civ3. But maybe that's the problem with the AI. It just cannnot handle the game well. After a few years far from the game, I was expecting a hard time from the AI at transcend. The game is still in progress, but is in the stage that you know you are not going to lose. And I know I'm playing pretty bad, and would not stand a chance in a multiplayer game.

	23-12-2004 20:42									#5
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quote: Originally posted by JPTetunge Thanks for the answers! I was almost sure 1&2 were possible, but I could not remeber how to do it

The diplomacy screen is your friend. Not only can you see their SE settings but if you have them infiltrated, you will get a host of other information including their diplomatic status with all the other factions they have met. This can be very handy for your own diplomacy and can even give you a sense of who might be located in which direction.


Oh and the AI sucks. Beating it on transcend is only a matter of learning to play better than it enough to surpass its resource and reasearch advantages. For a skilled player this quickly becomes easy and you look for other tests . . .. like the one city challenge, or not using crawlers or not using formers, or doing nothing for 20 turns and then startign playing etc etc

	23-12-2004 23:36									#6
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quote: Originally posted by Flubber For a skilled player this quickly becomes easy and you look for other tests . . .. like the one city challenge.....

Yeah , try a one city challenge. It is a real kick in the pants. Especially if you don't like micro-managing 50 bases at once.

	24-12-2004 02:00									#7
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Try a one city challenge next door to yang + monsoon jungle. He gets airpower way before the other AI due to his tech path in my experience. So it's either run police state and pray or die that's the only time i've lost to the AI

	27-12-2004 17:47									#8
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The game is over. Now, I started a new game, playing as the cult, that I think is the worst faction. I selected the other factions to be random, and now there are two Hive factions. Is it a bug, or a feature??

	27-12-2004 19:42									#9
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If you want, you could make all the factions the Hive. So, yes, it is a intended feature. The only problem I have noticed is the fact that these duplicate factions don't really differentiate themselves. For instance, all the little dots on the world map will be the same color. This makes for a all too confusing game.

	27-12-2004 23:32									#10
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quote: Originally posted by JPTetunge The game is over. Now, I started a new game, playing as the cult, that I think is the worst faction. I selected the other factions to be random, and now there are two Hive factions. Is it a bug, or a feature??

I interpret this to mean that the player started a game and used the option to let the computer assign random opponents. If so, then I think that getting two Hive factions is a bug. If, instead, he meant that he manually selected the computer opponents at random, then it's a feature.

JPTetunge -- Have you installed the latest patch for SMAX? If not, you should do so. It will fix other problems even if it doesn't help with this one.

Livid Imp -- I actually did play a game once against six Hives. Didn't finish as it was too confusing (each faction uses the same base names in addition to your point about all bases looking the same). I did discover that you can change the leader's name and other identifying information from the "Choose your faction" screen. That helps a little.

	28-12-2004 09:01									#11
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Even if you had Hive factions, you can tell the different between territories. While you may not be able to identify which Hive's territory it is, atleast you will know it is a different one. Different factions territory, even if the same color, will still form a line distinguishing the territories...

	28-12-2004 17:08									#12
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I did let the computer assign random opponents. Hence, I think it's a bug. And I have the latest patch installed.

I think I'll have to pick the opponents myself for the next games. Does anyone else has experienced that bug?

	29-12-2004 01:04									#13
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Yep, I had it too, you may even encounter an AI faction the same as the one you play... Kinda annoying, and I stopped using this feature. And as I love a good fight, I almost always set Ais to: 2 Aliens, Hive, Miriam, Spartan and Pirates... Try it out on a tiny planet and you'll be soon considering network nodes as very fancy facs.

	29-12-2004 19:49									#14
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quote: Originally posted by Kirov .....you'll be soon considering network nodes as very fancy facs.

Egads no! Those are the worst imaginable factions.

Is this some knid of backdoor method of getting me to finish my custom factions?

	01-01-2005 12:14									#15
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You know, making customized factions off of real countries or cities can be fun. Think of the possibilities. Civilized West side vs. the Ghetto, or San Fran with -10 growth due to excessive amount of gay people...