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Marid Audran
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Salt Lake City, Utah
May 2001
time: 22:19
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Coming earnestly back to SMAC/X after an extended break (too much CRPGing and Thief I/II), I just had a splendid SP game as Morgan. No special scenerio mods required either; no Ned-Enchancements, pre-terraforming or whatnot, straight-up save a bonus former given to each faction at the start. I'm a sucker for personal narratives in SMAC games, so this is sort of in a storytelling/highlights format, just to forewarn those who just like nuts-and-bolts type threads. It's long, sorry! 
Miscellany: Map of Planet, Morgans, Transcend, SMAX w/original factions. Crawlers used like old-school Civ2 caravans (allowed to complete SPs and prototypes, but no crawling). No calculated pop-booms (though since I'm Morgan, this wasn't really an issue).
I start things off in the cleft of the lower-left L-shaped continent where it's perpendicular to the horizontal section of the landmass. The terrain isn't too generous; fairly dry and fungus-heavy. Besides which there aren't too many optimum base sites either. Luckily, the Unity wreckage is nearby, so I get a few goodies to compensate, albeit an unneeded resource strain.
Things aren't looking to improve any time soon when my Unity Chopper investigations reveal The Hive about four squares away from Morgan Collections, and maybe 8 from Morgan Industries in a southwesternly direction, all of us hugging the bank of the Freshwater Sea in the middle of the landmass. Worse, a little further to the east of the continent are the Spartans, who I know will just be rarrrrring to go when the moment is plump.
Sandwiched betwixt too momentum factions and stuck with a support-retarded faction on a parsimonious landmass. Joy.
I know immediately that Yang must die, the sooner the better, and nothing else is worth considering. I hadn't even contacted him when I commenced hostilites with my chopper on one of his colony pods. Destroyed the chopper, but brought the pod to the brink of death and it retreated. Continued harrassment with my mining laser and a few laser rovers, which blessedly crippled his early expansion. Infiltrated his networks and snatched a few of his techs, including Doctrine: Loyalty. Police State was a veritable blessing for me when fighting a very early war as Morgan, as it helped tame my support and drone problems some, in spite of efficiency troubles. When I discovered Nonlinear Mathematics I made a critical decision in using a recently discovered Alien Artifact to protype an Impact Infantry, as I needed those Hive-busting weapons now. Financed a little upgrading (bonus credits were perhaps the only thing going for Morgan in this stage of the game) and I was able to take the Hive, then broker a truce with Yang whilst regrouping an invasion force. I had now five bases, including the Hive, all in a perimeter around the Freshwater Sea, which at least could provide some eventual food sources for growth.
I also managed to get Lal's comm-frequency from the Unity wreckage and since I have a long history of camradderie with the old surgeon I called him up. He offers a Pact and a vendetta against the University. I'm uncertain about the prudence of such a course but figure I need all the friends I can get and agree. Turns out to not be the best course, as Lal definitely got the shaft in this game and was situated in a barren patch of land on the tip of one of the northern continents. Lal couldn't really expand, and a hostile neighboring University muscled him into eradication. I did get a few techs out of our pact, but it soured my relations with Zak for a long time.
Of course, the problem with directing war resources in one direction is that my defences are lax in the other. Morgan Industries happened to be the border base facing Spartan territory. Santiago, always in a surly mood, strolls over into my territory, swipes aside my formers, and parks a seige force of several Impact Infantry, Rovers, and Plasma Steel Garrisons outside a thinly defended Morgan Industries. Santiago calls me up: "Okay Morgan: Grovel. I'll decide if it's entertaining, and desperate, enough to spare your worthless credit-parcelling life." I satiate Santiago with two techs to keep her from sacking my capital. Snickering, she takes her spoils and withdraws her army the next turn. Forget the Gaians; as ideological opposites go, I think the Spartans are the true polar faction to the Morgans. Every game I play as the Morgans Santiago seems to dislike me intensely, with almost animalistic vehemenace. Maybe it's her aversion to "Wealth," or otherwise disgust as her well-armed, well-trained vigilantte fighters are so antithetical to Morgan's fat bourgeois accountants and industry managers.
Meanwhile, Deidre has been quite the busy eco-bee a continent over, snatching up nearly every early game Secret Project, and breaching steadily into the mid-game ones as well. She builds the Empath Guild and promptly votes herself Governor by a landslide. In powerbar charts she reigns supreme over everyone else by at least 200%.
I really have little time or resources for all that infrastructure nonsense unfortunately, doubly so as Morgan, as I've made enemies and need to secure my borders. I build up a rover/infantry force to close out Yang's remaining bases, and upgrade them to Gatling when I get the tech. I manage to eradicate Yang at the end of the first mission century, though it was still a pain in the ass. Even without his capital he seeded himself like weeds and I needed to track him down all across the median area of the continent. At least his captured bases were in good locations in of themselves, and worth keeping for BUILD purposes.
So I'd won the war and secured a border, but entering the 23rd century I was losing that other signifigant, more nuanced war: The Builders' War. Canning the hive was a drain on my money and minerals; the only Secret Projects I managed to snare were the Merchant Exchange, mostly because it was cheap for a SP and I had vague ambitions of a Super Science City at Morgan Industries, and the Virtual World, I guess because Dee couldn't be bothered to build it and AI Zak somehow thought it a better investment to build the Command Nexus. Still, a lot of good it did me, since most of my cities had little more than a Rec Tanks and Command Center in them. Additionally, my tech progress was pretty ragged. I had some decent ones like High Energy Chemistry and Superconductor, but in my rush for Conquer techs other tech lines were woefully undeveloped. My resource restrictions were still very much in place. I had not even researched Social Psych, and was relying on my Police rating to reign the drones in.  With Lal and Yang out of the picture, I was hovering around last in the tech race, ahead of only Miriam.  As mighty Morgan, I didn't even have much money. It was time to play catch-up in the infrastructure, economic, and technological charts.
After de-militarizing my budget and starting an infiltration program, thanks to a few intrepid foils, I assessed the situation. Santiago had quite a few more techs than I, and I figured since things were going to destabilize betwixt us eventually, why not milk her psychopathic scientists for all they're worth. It was certainly easier to steal tech than research it on my own at this point.
In went the probes, dropping off on her mainland. I extracted some nice ones from her database: Social Psych, Field Modulation, Centauri Empathy, Adaptive Doctrine, Optical Computers. After each theft she admonished me sternly: "Know this CEO Morgan, I cannot condone industrial sabotage. Don't make me force my hand upon you." Yet she kept the truce; I was such a middling presence entering mid-game I don't think she could be bothered to immediately pounce me.
But I guess the sixth, and final 'til we were equalized, tech steal (Bioadaptive Resonance) was the straw that broke the camel's back, and she declared vendetta. We had a few brief border and probe skirmishes before a new uneasy truce was put in place. The worst causalty of this ordeal wasn't on the front lines, but a foil coming back to my mainland after bagging two alien artifacts in its hold. One turn away before being able to drop them off, they met a quick end from a Spartan skimship. I cried.  All in all only received two techs from alien artifacts the entire game.
Never content with the tech I pilfer, I turn my attention to the University and direct my probes mercilessly at his bases, to great success thanks to his -2 rating. Didn't even need to spread them out; Zak's "high-security interlocks" were no big deal. In came: Superstring Theory, Advanced Subatomic Theory, Intellectual Integrity, Pre-Sentient Algorithims. Alas it was too late to think about the Hunter-Seeker Algorithim, as with every other mid-game Secret Project Deidre had snatched it up (at least I infiltrated her datalinks before that happened). But I did build three Covert Ops Centers in three specialty bases and turned them into mass probe factories to continue to harass Zak, which included sabotaging his Supercollider project so I could build it in Morgan Industries after extracting Applied Relativity, as well as Silksteel Alloys, Cyberethics, Ecological Engineering, and, as emberassing as the Social Psych shtick, Secrets of the Human Brain and Ethical Calculus. Yes, I discovered Trance, Creches and Democracy around 2240. Commence laughter. 
Around this time when I was trying to get my act together at home, I was running Police State/Green, as my society tried to absolve itself of the scars of its military campaign against the Hive, build up facilities, and colonize the northern part of the continent while I minerals to spare. I had the feeling that Deidre found me just terribly droll; the great capitalist tycoon Morgan running some fascist Greenpeace state. As a result my relationship with her stayed positive, in a patronizing sort of mentor/protege fashion, since she had cemented a lead in powercharts and was expanding mightily on a huge supercontinent all to herself without resistance, land that was lush and arable, seeding it with forests and building copious amounts of infrastructure. I often called her up, and while she demured sharing what little tech I was able to swipe or research on my own, I'd simper and ask if I could buy some from her, which I did quite a few times at very reasonable prices (since I was always spending money like water). Gene Splicing, Environmental Economics, even Fusion Power (!) I managed to buy off her for a mere 100-200 credits apiece. I could just imagine Dee condescendingly patting a miniture Morgan in consul on the head or pinching his cheek as she sent me off with some new toy to play with. We were even pacted for a short, meaningless time, as she extended her arm of illusiory fellowship.
I continued to probe Zak for tech, and got a few more from his not-so-tight clutches: Unified Field Theory, Organic Superlubricant, Neural Grafting. Once again I sabotaged one of his secret projects for my sake, and the Theory of Everything went to Morgan Industries. Unfortunately Deidre got the Longitivity Vaccine, as with all mid-game SPs, but at least I had a SSC underway. I even got a few techs from Miriam: Doctrine: Initiative and Doctrine: Air Power, as she was situated on a chain of islands up north and determined to make a nuisance of herself. All-in-all I probably bought or stole 80% of the tech I accumulated in-game.
Now that I had some infrastructure (Creches/Energy Banks/Network Nodes/Rec Commonds), some advanced terraforming beginning (blessed Boreholes) and the permanency of my borders in place, I felt ready to graduate to Demo/Free Market/Wealth and try to make a dent in this world. I created one high-mineral military prototyping base with a skunkworks and punishment sphere, and started putting out a small rover defence force, including "Boil Bashers," (Resonance Laser Empath Rovers), needlejets, and cruisers. I had maybe 10 major bases, 5 more minor ones on various territorial outskirts, and a few token water bases.
Soon after I try settling into this hard-earned builders' paradise, Santiago rings me up to inform me of what a salbrious, decadent, fat, glorified syncophant I am, and how she's going to ravage me raw. Switch over to Power and bring some reserve forces to the front lines. Take one of her bases. She calls me up, seemingly annoyed that this fat cat she meant to gut apparently had teeth. She calls the whole war off and we actually get a treaty, and it stayed that way the rest of the game, In spite of me running my dreaded "Wealth" and all. That's one thing I like about Santiago; if she pushes you and you push back and stand your ground, she'll respect you for it, which is more than I can say about Miriam or Yang.
A few last probe stabs at Zak as Orbital Spaceflight and MMI come in before I finally call it quits and I weasel a treaty out of him. I also got Advanced Spaceflight (!) from Miriam who was beelining like there was no second coming. Upgrade shard to my reserve defences at home and add "Locust Shredders" (Resonance Laser Empath Choppers) to my Psi defences. I'm finally getting a decent tech research rate of my own, and and a good thing too, as but one tech was my salvation in this game when I finally got it: Nanominiaturization. Algorithimic Enhancement. Bypassing Dee's Hunter-Seeker Algorithim.
Though my standings in powerbar charts were still depressingly low and basically on par with Santiago and Zak, I finally spearheaded a small tech lead over them and the real source of knowledge remained situated on the Gaian continent, and the holders of immense power. Dee was bringing in a new tech something like every 4 turns, her coffers were bulging, her infrastructure dwarfed anything else on planet. The basic Rec Tanks, Network Nodes, Creches, Rec Commons, Holotheatres, yes. But additionally Biology Labs, Research Hospitals, Tree Farms, Hybrid Forests, Centauri Preserves, Fusion Labs, in nearly every base. And let's not forget the free facilities. Citizens' Defence Force. Planetary Energy Grid. Command Nexus. Cyborg Factory. Cloudbase Academy. Among many of her other SPs. And once she got the Cloning Vats her pop started to spike, up to 16 apiece (w/Ascetic Virtues). I was lucky to get the Nano Factory simply because that was one tech line I researched slightly before her.
Naturally entering late-game our relationship had eroded. I was no longer cute and confused Morgan running Police State/Green. It was the natural and necessary thing to do. "Send in the probes." This became a common setup for the rest of the game as I sent in cruiser after cruiser loaded to the brim with elite algorithmic probes. I probably got a score of tech from Dee, all sorts of stuff, from left-over mid-level techs like Bio-Engineering, Centauri Meditation, and Retroviral Engineering, to advanced stuff like Centauri Genetics, Homo Superior, Matter Compression, the Secrets of Creation. This continued throughout the upper ecchelons of the tech tree and 'til the end of the game. I actually ran out of fresh bases to probe and had to deal with her security interlocks. With her HSA my probes had only 50% extraction from a fresh base, down to something like 35% for a breached one. I was able to sabotage a few SPs in the works too and secure them for myself, like the Space Elevator, Self-Aware Colony, and Telepathic Matrix (aside; most ABSURDLY powerful secret project ever created. Doubly absurd; at this late stage, it was a real boon to my economy and drone problems). Many others, however, slipped through my fingers.
After each mass probing Dee and I would have a brief skirmish and I'd quickly broker a truce, usually over a water base or other that was less defended than dry bases. I couldn't hope to cope with her enormous military, both regular and psi-based. Her mind worm armies were a veritable nightmare, psychophysical legions Cha Dawn could only dream about. With the Neural Amplifier, Dream Twister, Xenoempathy Dome, Pholus Mutagen, Biology Labs, Centauri Preserves, Brood Pits, and a +4 Planet rating (from a Green economy and having those Manifold Ruins in her territory), Dee was sending in Mature/Demon Boil Worms, Isles, Sea Lurks, and Locusts with a 90% Psi attack bonus.
I think over all these "probe wars" Dee directed her rage on the other factions, as a catharthis and confirmation on who was the alpha dawg on Chiron. Switching over to Fundy/Green/Power/Thought Control (let's not forget Cloning Vats absolving the negatives of those later two SE choices), she invaded Zak and Miriam, storming half of Zak's bases, including all the ones in the Moonson Jungle, and all of Miriam's primary ones, including New Jerusalem. Dee even paid Santiago a visit on a few of her coastal bases. Then, content that her 2nd-class rivals had been spayed and neutered, Dee switched just as smoothly as you please to Demo/Green/Knowledge/Eudamonia. Deep within the bowels of Deidre's emphatic, troubled mind lie dreams of psi conquest and psychopathological domination on a sadistic scale more terrifying than Yang's nerve staplers or Santiago's interrogation chambers.
My first thought in this game was to win by economic victory, only natural for Morgan, but this rapidly became less and less feasible as the game went on. 20,000 credits turned into 40,000 then 60,000, easily out of my reach as I had no more than 5,000 for most of the game. My only hope seemed to be the Ascent to Transcendence. I came close to losing the game outright when Dee was building Clinical Immortality. She already had over a 1,000 counsel votes, Miriam was her b*tch, and I had about 200, ditto Zak and Santiago. If she build Clinical Immortality there wasn't a doubt she'd vote herself Supreme Leader. But some desperate and brave probes got me Matter Editation and sabotaged Dee's Clinical Immortality so I could keep it out of her hands. I build it, barely (Dee's enormous industrial power could re-build it again in a matter of turns).
I did manage to win the game by building the Ascent to Transcendence out from under her. After Dee build the Voice to Planet (rather portentously) in New Jerusalem, I redirected all my production to singularity/quantum crawlers so I could construct it in Morgan Industries. That's one thing the AI doesn't understand; with Dee's mineral production she could have constructed it in one turn--it took me about three. So there you have it: In 2371 the Morganites ascended into the Planetary consciousness.
Still, it felt more like an upset than an honest-to-god victory. I was in no way the leader of Planet. Dee was cemented in the powercharts. While I was catching up installing Tree Farms, Fusion Labs, and Hybrid Forests in my bases, she was well into building Robotic Assembly Plants, Nanohospitals, Paradise Gardens, Quantum Labs. When Hab Domes became available, things became obscene. Most of her bases were in their 20s, her largest was sized 33. My largest base was size 13. At the end of the game, she'd researched every tech in the chart and was pulling in a Transcendent Thought every turn. The best rates I got was a tech every third turn, and was still catching up in the tree. Nearly every base of hers was a prodigious industrial center pumping out 60-90 minerals. The most production in one of mine was 50. Thanks to the Manifold Harmonics she was raking in 4/4/5 out of fungus squares, of which existed in droves in her base radii. The only thing I had a one-up on was money and satellites. I got some Orbital Defence Pods in orbit; everyone had Planet Busters save myself. Dee had Singularity Reactors on hers. Her Alpha Centauri score was higher than mine, in spite of my "victory."
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21-05-2002 01:43
Now THAT was a thoroughly enjoyable read, my friend!
Great story there.
Yes indeed, Alpha Centauri is still the best computer game every made, not just in strategy, but bar none.
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