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thinkingamer
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i've never played SMACX, but i've seen each fac's special abilities and most of them r overpowered (specially the cyborgs, pirates, and the aliens) so my votes r:
1. Hive (with this one i beat a game in trancent lvl. in 180 turns dipolomatic all standard map size, native, water, etc.)
(i take out their +1 growth; its much more balanced and besides hive got no inefficiency bonus in 2.0 patch)
2. Peacekeepers (pact with the largest fac. , give some tech or/and energy to them and u win the game)
3. Believers
4. Gaians
5. University
6. Spartans
7. Morganites (best in end game, but the REALLY stink in the beginning)
(i play with morgans base limit to 5 instaed of 4)
Last edited by thinkingamer on 08-03-2002 at 13:03
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Mongoose
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Harrisburg,PA USA
Apr 1999
time: 00:14
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quote:
Originally posted by thinkingamer
(i play with morgans base limit to 5 instaed of 4) |
This is a HUGE benefit to an already powerful faction!!!
That limit had to have been chosen by the designers because it prevents Morgan from using any truly productive specialists until after hab complexes or the Virtues are built.
Playing with this change, I'm not sure it would ever be necessary to build hab complexes.
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PhoenixPhlame73
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San Antonio, Texas
Apr 2002
time: 23:14
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I like teh Cybernetic Consciousness because they seem to have no downside. Compared to teh university, they have teh same bonus to research, yet they also have a bonus to efficiency, no (extraordinary) weakness to probe teams, and their only weakness seems to be that teh have a -1 to growth (not much of a weakness in my opinion).
True, they do not have the free network nodes that the university has, but i think that this is more than made up for by the efficiency bonus and the lack of a probe penalty.
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Jethro83
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Newcastle, Australia
Mar 2002
time: 15:14
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My top 4...
1. Peacekeepers. Their -1 Efficiency penalty is puny as opposed to their bonuses. Extra talent for every four citizens and double votes are enough to get me on side with them. Plus their starting tech rocks, and they have a realistic shot at being first to Secrets of the Human Brain.
2. University. I don't care at all about the probe penalties since I'll be going for the Hunter Seeker Algorithm.
3. Gaians. I enjoy building hordes and hordes of mind worms to overpower the enemy. Since the Gaians will easily be able to capture them, it simply adds to the horde. Less morale hardly affects mind worm lifecycle, and less police hardly matters because free market is out of their reach anyway.
4. Hive. Starting out, the Hive are difficult to use, but as you continue building your infrastructure, they can become unstoppable. They can be both peaceful and warmongering builders. Industry and growth are excellent with them. Their -1 economy isn't too much of a burden later on.
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thinkingamer
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quote:
Originally posted by Mongoose
This is a HUGE benefit to an already powerful faction!!!
That limit had to have been chosen by the designers because it prevents Morgan from using any truly productive specialists until after hab complexes or the Virtues are built.
Playing with this change, I'm not sure it would ever be necessary to build hab complexes. |
Powerful???????? i don't think so: compared to other faction's pop limit (7) the Morgans pop limit (4) makes the city less productive (even solely on energy!) than other factions cities in the 1st 100 turn of the game.
Bad start: Terrible ending. Thats all what i've got to say.
(by the way, u r playing this game in transcendent level right?)
Last edited by thinkingamer on 05-05-2002 at 09:05
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Mongoose
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Harrisburg,PA USA
Apr 1999
time: 00:14
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quote:
Originally posted by thinkingamer
(by the way, u r playing this game in transcendent level right?) |
Not only that, but I can spell.
Ignorant pup!
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Clear Skies
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looking for a saviour in these dirty streets
Jul 2000
time: 05:14
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I've recently been experimenting with the factions, and as some people have most likely already commented (slap wrist for not being bothered to go search back thru the thread), it all depends on what type of game you play. For example, the Hive expand quickly and can build up a good military, but economically (not to mention diplomatically and scientifically), they suck. My favourite faction, the Consciousness, are good at research and efficiency, but bite when it comes to expansion - you have to go Democratic/Planned in the early stages to get any decent pop growth, killing off both the efficiency kick and the early mineral boost to new bases. I find running Demo horrible on small maps - you just can't get the defenders in place quickly enough without the bonus minerals.
That said, I do love the Consciousness. Aki with Zak's network node bonus would be heaven for me. I'm a techie through and through, and I'll go to any lengths to stay ahead in the tech race. However, I always hated Zak's probe weakness - miss the HSA and you're officially screwed for all time.
Dee has to be my second fave, if only because playing her means you don't have to face her  She's the worst little lying backstabbing b1itch in the game...
Her morale & police deficiencies I can cope with, and it makes coping with native life, fungus, etc. so much easier.
Lal probably comes third, despite the fact that I thoroughly despise him. Only because he's so versatile, though. The -1 Effic is a problem, but Lal can basically do anything. His weakness is simply his lack of strength - while he can do anything, there's always someone out there who does it better :P
Miriam and the aliens I will NEVER EVER play as, though. Ugh.
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Cataphract887
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quote:
2. Peacekeepers (pact with the largest fac. , give some tech or/and energy to them and u win the game) |
i dont know about you,but 100-150 turns into the game the PKs have been anihilated or weak to the piont of helplessness....(they always end up next to the hive and sparta it seems(i assume you are talking about allying them))
i like playing morgan best,but the hive seems the strongest...
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ir
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I'm surprised that Miriam got so few votes. Many people hate Believers coz' even AI can provide some challenge for moderate player. Old poll on your nemesis put her first, followed by The Hive.
In human hands, they're the most versatile faction among with Angels and Spartans. Demo is a natural choice for peace, Fundy is a wonder for large scale invasion (BTW, I really rare used PS, with The Hive being exception). 19 bases on transcend/huge with demo/green, before any drone show its head. Alternatively, Demo/FM/Wealth with 20% to psych and tons of formers doing whatever you want. People say that support is not that big problem 'if' one have crawlers, but with blind research and tech stagnation even for Morgan it takes long time. Long ago I've managed to win by AtT with Believers on huge wormy map covered by oceans with blind research and tech stagnation on, no pods, transcend difficulty. On small planet nobody can stay vs. them. Simple laser rovers...
As for other factions, I like Morgan (Fundamentalism and buy almost everyone) and Rose (Fundy is permanently on). Sometimes Gaia.. Of all new smax faction only Angels and Drones looks ballanced.
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The Vagabond
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of realpolitik and counterpropaganda
Jan 1970
time: 05:14
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I find it rather fun to play the Planet Cult. Prophet Cha Dawn rocks! Of course, when I play him, I set the native life to the maximum. Then all you have to do is to wander around the fungus and catch the worms. Even if a capture attempt is unsuccessful, no problem: you get a considerable amount of cash instead, and your attacking mind worm improves its morale. Furthermore, the probability of losing a worm is really very low. In this way, the number of mind worms in your possession grows geometrically. It's even better with IoDs. As soon as I build my first ship, I send it out to capture IoDs. These IoDs are used to captures other IoDs, etc. As a result, the flow of cash is really impressive, while your native life army is even more so. The only problem is that you may eventually get bored to move so many units per turn.
Nevertheless, as the AI, Cha Dawn sucks big time. I even created a "double faction" for the Cult which I use for the AI: I added + 1 nutrient and +1 mineral in fungus squares. This helps.
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Kirov
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Warsaw, Poland
Sep 2002
time: 06:14
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Drones.
In my opinion SMAC factions were very balanced, it was almost impossible to say who's the best (tho I would consider Hive) and who's worst. SMAX factions are IMHO stronger than old (with the exception of Cult, which is in my opinion the worst faction, and Pirates, as they are the most difficult faction to play (there are so many things you have to struggle with - low efficiency, low minerals, long time of building units, long time of terraforming, etc. etc.). And of course Alien factions are unbeatable. God, it's pure munchkinism to play them...
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Jethro83
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Newcastle, Australia
Mar 2002
time: 15:14
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Wow. This is an old poll.
I posted here before I discovered the marvel that is the Spartan Federation. My new order is...
1. Spartans
2. Gaians
3. Peacekeepers/Hive
As for SMAX factions:
1. Drones
2. Pirates
3. Data Angels
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Xian
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I used to be a Maoist so i voted Hive, but now i think the data angels would be the best society to live in
the gains are still my favorite to play in though
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Jethro83
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Newcastle, Australia
Mar 2002
time: 15:14
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quote:
Originally posted by CEO Aaron
Okay, I've gotta ask tho. What is it about the Spartans that you find so endearing. I've tried to play with them many times, and while I _can_ win with them, my game is clearly hampered by the harsh industry penalty, and the prohibition on wealth. What kind of opening are you using? Do you build or go for early conquest? What SE choices do you pick? In short, what gives?
BTW, don't take this as a slight to Santiago, I want to make plain that _I'm_ not good with her, I'm not saying she isn't good. |
In the earlier mission years, I build up as many scout rovers as I can and kick the factions in the immediate vicinity off my landmass. Once I get Planetary Networks, I run a Planned Economy to remove the Industrial penalty. I stick with Frontier politics in the earlier stages because the support penalty of Democratic hurts hard with the Spartans, the Efficiency penalty of Police State combined with inefficiency of Planned is atrocious, and the research penalty of Fundamentalist outweighs the morale and probe boost since the Spartans already have excellent morale.
Once I get Cyberethics, I run Knowledge to get a much needed boost to my laboratory output. I stay on this until I build the Cloning Vats, at which time I run Power (since the Cloning Vats kill off the Industrial penalty of Power).
Once I get the Living Refinery (+2 Support) I switch to Democratic.
I will then run Eudaimonia to get economy and industry pumped up. The penalty of Morale won't matter at all when I have an innate +2 Morale and an extra 2 from Power.
So in the long run, my favourite Spartan SE choices are:
- Democratic (with Living Refinery)
- Planned
- Power (With Cloning vats.)
- Eudaimonia (once Power is up and running)
I can understand why the Spartans are a difficult faction to use purely because I used to be a peaceful builder right from the start. However after coming back from Civ III, I've grown much more aggressive in the early game (and sometimes all the way through. Especially towards Yang and Miriam).
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dworkin
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The Believers. Not the brightest bunch but the biggest. I'll admit it's a bit of a crawl till you get probes but then it's probes anywhere and everywhere.
So you're a crazed, bible thumping looney with thousands of armed fanatics screaming for blood at your beck and call? At least you are not pretending to be nice like all those other godless wretches. As for Yang? He's why the Lord gave you PBs.
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Hey wow, this account still works!
I like the PKs (baseline = good), Gaians (Being a bit of a Magic nut, I name most of the bases places on Dominara) due to their ability to gain lots of forces rather quickly through mind worms, and sometimes the Hive.
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08-03-2002 12:55
Voted for the UN toadies, but I'd call it a tie with Morgan. I just don't like playing Dee; too easy. University, too, if you get any one of (VW, HGP, HSA). Spartans are OK, but I just don't enjoy as much.
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