Not to be rude to anyone that likes this game---but this game sucks donkey d**k!!!!! Maybe its just me but i liked every other game made like this--but this game was weird and so $%&IU$&*$(^($%% Im sorry-i bought this game like a yr ago and just installed in a few days ago-i hate it-sorry had to vent a little-maybe ill go back and give it another shot-any pointers?

I will admit that at first SMAC can seem like a bad game, but play it a while and you will be amazed. The game grows on you. When you figure out all the "things" you can do with it, the game becomes one of the best.

You are so wrong about this game...

The kitten will hunt you down on the forums SINISTER1974 whenever you dare post :ak47:

Don't take it seriously...:p

Sinister, you have to play this game a few times to really appreciate it. When I first got the game, I had a TERRIBLE time with it, and HATED it. Now, I'm forever hooked!

I have to agree with the others. I bought 'Baldur's Gate' and SMAC at the same time. Tried a bit of SMAC and then dropped it. Later, I got in to the sci-fi backstory and the idea of creating my own colony in the face of opposition from other factions and a new, harsh environment (that I could shape and terraform). It is still the most often loaded game on my iMac (the Alien Crossfire sequel, that is) and I can't recommend it highly enough.

Originally posted by kittenOFchaos
The kitten will hunt you down on the forums SINISTER1974 whenever you dare post :ak47:

Don't take it seriously...:p

I did not expressly say this at all, yet you should it more seriously than you do from KittenOFchaos.:ninja: :satan:

While I don't think the game is terrible I've never really been enraptured by it the way I am by other great games such as Civ2 and Baldur's Gate.

The sci-fi backstory actually was pretty interesting, and I probably enjoyed it more than the actual gameplay. While the differing, customizable factions added a certain roleplaying element, I found the fungus-removal, terraform, research and build loop to be very monotonous after several hours. I guess what really sunk the game for me was the tech tree, which seemed to incorporate the worst of the pseudoscientific technobabble made prevalent by shows like Star Trek. When I research Railroads or Communism in Civ2, I've got a fairly good idea of what I'm going to get and what the final results will be. When I research Hyperplasmic supertronic datacompressing alpha-bending wingnuts in SMAC, my only thought usually is, "What the hell are Hyperplasmic supertronic datacompressing alpha-bending wingnuts?"

Terser1: It's just possible that the demise of Rome was due to the dilapidated state of the plumbing -- the lead pipes contributed to the decline and fall by causing madness. This of course accounts for some of the excesses of Nero and the Roman Catholic Church (bom-bom).

Terser2: SMAC/AX has helped me to understand the nature of scientific progress -- reluctantly -- by including so much information in Datalinks and the various intercuts and interludes in the game. The TechTree makes so much more sense than the one in Civ2. I also love the interplay and fine balance of the various factions. It makes so much sense when one is studying the humanities and social sciences.

Originally posted by Terser
I guess what really sunk the game for me was the tech tree, which seemed to incorporate the worst of the pseudoscientific technobabble made prevalent by shows like Star Trek.

To be fair, aside from the Centauri stuff and the trancendence-type stuff, nearly all of the hard science things on the tech tree are real theories. And come on, it's not nearly as bad as the technobabble on Star Trek.

Look...follow the logic: all we need do is reconfigure...

After playing the demo a few times, I got it for my Birthday, around 2 weeks ago, and loved every minute of it! I personally liked the tech-tree a lot (and, playing as the University, got to know it quite fast) and found it more interesting than Civ2's t-tree.

Hah! I finally bought the game a few months ago and it only cost me $10.

:lol:

but this game sucks donkey d**k!!!!! Maybe its just me but i liked every other game made like this--but this game was weird and so $%&IU$&*$(^($%% Im sorry-i bought this game like a yr ago and just installed in a few days ago-i hate it-sorry had to vent a little-maybe ill go back and give it another shot-any pointers?

huh?....:eek: uhh whatever.
I will take the fact that you buy games and get around to trying them a year latter as indication that you are insane and forgive you your blasphomous outburst
(did i spell blasphomous right?:confused: )

SMAC is a great work not only of gameplay but of style and of
realistic 'true' sci-fi. (by "true" i meen stuff that is actualy sci-fi; things
that discus the future and how diferent possibilitys could affect mankind;
Im not talking about Buck Rodgers with a laser pistol(thought that can be fun too :D )
how long did you play it? this doesnt happen to my much with games
but most of my favorite songs i wasnt shure i liked when i first heard them.

Originally posted by SINISTER1974
Not to be rude to anyone that likes this game---but this game sucks donkey d**k!!!!! Maybe its just me but i liked every other game made like this--but this game was weird and so $%&IU$&*$(^($%% Im sorry-i bought this game like a yr ago and just installed in a few days ago-i hate it-sorry had to vent a little-maybe ill go back and give it another shot-any pointers?

Now now SINISTER, there's no need for the colourful language. More to the point, there's no need to be making this pointless thread to vent your anger on the game. Even more to the point, there's no need to be venting anger at anything in the first place. Yes. Anger is useless. It accomplishes nothing except your own pain and suffering. Be strong and overcome it.

Anyway, I have the perfect solution to your problem: DON'T PLAY IT!!!!

That's right. Go to the menu, exit the game and remove the CD from your drive... Now wasn't that easy? Now you can go and play something you think is worth your time.

Though it is sad that you think this way, I'm not gonna try and persuade you to play or not play. Its extremely important to have your own opinion. Just don't try to force others to see it your way.

i don't get this game..... it seems to be a waste for mee too. Maybe if there were some sort of manual....

Well, there is a manual, a mediocre strategy guide by Prma, and a wonderful strategy guide by Velocyrix.

SMAC has a pretty steep learning curve, but once you get the hang of it then it becomes a very interesting game. Then you learn about the AI´s inability to build good empires and start moding the rules. Still, it is a good game. :)

I still return to it (now that we have a Mac OS version) and play with all of the atmospheric elements left in--the opening movie and Secret Project cut-ins as well as the interludes. The conflicts which arise from the factional ideologies and the opportunities for experimenting with social engineering allow me to think about the wider consequences of my gameplay. I find that I am much more pragmatic/aggressive in my gaming decisions in Civ3.

Hello,

Some of you might know me from the 'Scenario Creation Forum'. I cruised in just because I finally got SMAC to work after having it for almost a year, and no I am not a moron, and I don't wait forever to play a game, it simply wasn't compatible with my video drivers.

First, I think that I should say that I didn't expect very much from SMAC because I am a hard-core civ player--specifically a Classic Civ modpack player. But, I am also a 'Sci-Fi Junkie' so that meant that I could be objective (well, a little bit anyway).

Second, as far as technobabble goes...let's face it, there simply will never be anything written about the future that has complete and total correctess of science in it. It is impossible and also impractical for the purpose of creating anything science fiction, because if the science were true, it would be here and now, so if it is here and now, then it isn't science fiction.

Third, I loved SMAC. Mostly because it is just like the scenarios I like to write for Civ II. Isolated factions, alone on a planet, harsh conditions...it's so who I am that it scares me to think that there are game designers out there who know what I am thinking.

I don't know if I ever did answer any questions or just babble. Hmm? At any rate, in modern lingo, SMAC "rocks", in the 23rd century it "hyper accelerates" (a little technobabble).

Well umm after that really detailed and informative post...http://www.civgaming.net/gamecatcher/phpBB2/images/smiles/eek.gif Is there anything you would like to say in layman's terms? Like whats your ideas for improvement ans complaints on the game? ;) :p

Hey Spycatcher,

Complaints...hmmmm...yes I do have one (well maybe a couple).

It's wrapped up so airtight with only a limited number of factions to choose from that once you play all the factions there isn't much chance to be surprised anymore.

Ideas...hmmm....aside from the looks of the game so far it needs an update soon because although I like the graphics, I think they could be better as far as the clarity of the units, and background menus are concerned (it kinda reminds me of ToT in some ways and that is a chief complaint I have about ToT).

However, it plays like a scenario and that I love so for people who want to play a game that is like a scenario I suppose it is excellent. I haven't wrote any scenarios for SMAC yet, but I am considering it.

John

Thank you ;)

Yes I do hope you do some scenairos for smac. Maybe a hive vs dra one..err never-mind. :D

I personally think they should just come out with a smac II but that is unlikely...:(

No, a SMAC2 would ruin it all; exept from Civ, no great, classic games have sequels.

I just started playing it again, and it kicks ass! :D A nice change from Civ III. :)

Personally, I would love to see a sequel to Master of Magic :love: But with both SimTex and MicroProse gone, that seems unlikely :(

SMAC IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE GAMES!!! but using it's engine to create a scenario is a challenge...that is why there are so few out there...I've been waiting for some good scenarios to play-- I may HAVE to write one...

Any ideas? We can at least contemplate the possibilities...

John

But some theories are already proved wrong like the superstringthoery...its now the M-thoery i think...

Well I am back playing SMAC and I love it more then ever. In my opinion SMAC is the BEST of all the TBS games I have ever played (Civ1, Civ2 MPGE, Civ3, Civ3 PTW, Space Empires IV). It's hard in a few words to describe what it is about SMAC that makes it so interesting, but it has to do with the how the story/setting/mood intertwines so nicely with gameplay, and how the gameplay can be so varied yet at the same time so intertwined ... damn it ... words can't describe it, if you don't have a copy of SMAC, buy it and play it and you will be amazed!

Firaxis - please bring on SMAC2!!

P.S. Another game I thought did an equally good job with intertwining the story/setting/mood with gameplay was X-COM: UFO Defense which is also a TBS game, but of course not an empire building game.

I didnt like this game the first time i tried it.
And i understand the problems with non historical units.

But once you get used to it, the depth is awesome.

PBEM is the best tho, human opponents much more fun.

BTW civ3 is the only civ type game i cant make myself like so far

Ellie

[delete me.... im a double post ;(]

the main "offputting" factor of smac is the brown evil pallete, or the unit "spamming" in the unit building bit. It would be overcrowded with crappy obsolete units and i could never get rid of them :( i admit i never advanced far down the teach tree as im a diplomatic person by nature, so i always got un victorys :D, but i will admit, smac is a good game but VERY hard to get into........and fungus is just annoying :(




An Additional point is the speed of the units; both in terms of processing power required to animate the flc files, and also due to the fact i kinda though a guy pushing a shopping trolley dosnt look like a fearful unit :(

Pod wrote:
the main "offputting" factor of smac is the brown evil pallete

You know I have heard a lot of people (usually Civ2 players) complain about the dark murkiness of SMAC garphics, however, I think the palette is perfect - it totally fits the mood of the game. My first Civ type game I played was actually SMAC, and when I first played Civ2 I thought the graphics looked very cartoonish.

Pod wrote:

or the unit "spamming" in the unit building bit. It would be overcrowded with crappy obsolete units and i could never get rid of them

Once you play the game enough and understand all of the unit components as well have a firm grasp of the tech tree, it is best to simply completely turn off the automatic unit design. Then you just build the units you need. After creating upgraded designs for a unit, just make the old design "obsolete" so it falls out the build selection list. Once you have upgraded all of the units with the old design to the new, simply "retire" the old design.

Pod wrote:
........and fungus is just annoying

Pod, I think the fungus (and associated lifeforms) adds significantly to my enjoyment of the game. Fungus can be both a curse and a godsend.

Anyway, enough ... time to start a new game of SMAC!:)

Hmm all that red does give you a headache imho.

First civ i played was civ1 i remember it being released, graphics did the job, civ2 was the perfect civ for me.

SMAC is better in many ways than civ2 but it sure is ugly to look at

Ellie

I am with ellie on this. It does need an unearthly feel do to the plotline, but it looks like someone mixed green, red, and brown paint, then shot it out of a cannon toward the computer screen.

Well, at least the tiles look that way, the units are ok.

But all in all, the game rocks.

I think they game would have been megasuperstar popular if they had made a manageable editor and some people would have been interested enough to make mods for it...

JValdezToo has got it exactly right. SMAC is a game using what is broadly the CIV engine but with (relatively) short timescales. Instead of an emphasis on the long term cultural and technological evolution of society, it focusses on technological and organizational change within the ken of human lifetimes. That is why upgraded weaponry etc. is appropriate to SMAC and not to CIV. It has always amazed me when I have read CIV posters demanding such "improvements" when they are so inappropriate and at the same time when they are already here in all their glory in SMAC.

It is all so much closer to CIV scenarios than to the big game.

But there is more: In SMAC the "candy" that is offered as rewards for technological breakthroughs is so good that I, who often despise such things and normally merely tolerate them, have been tempted to play a game just for that, researching like mad to see if I can get nearly every single tech first. Some of the quotations are from historical figures like SunTzu while others have apparently ben put together by the developers; the quality is such that I find it hard to know which are which at first reading.

My biggest problem is that when I reccommend the game to others I have to warn them that it is hard to get SMACX which is a well-worthwhile addition, adding several new factions and the aliens with their own agenda.

Civilization is the game that computers had to be invented for (this is especially true of the original game, later versions do have improvements, but they are also laced with compromises from people who, if they did but know it would be happier playing SMAC or, in some cases a wargame), but SMAC has enriched the world of computer gaming in unique ways.

You all have forgotten one major drawback to SMAC, how poorly it works on Windows XP. I have been unable to play the game for about 5 months now since I can only get SMAC to work for short time periods and SMAX will not work in any form. I even have the patches for it.:(

I can only hope they will release a sequal, but all the original creators (I have read about being asked about a sequal) have stated one would not be made.

Why not get round the XP problem by having an older windows OS as an alternative load? I still hang on to DOS capabilities for various things.

I will ask on the beta-testing boards after the XP Patch as one was in the works at one time.

They did do a compatibility patch for XP/2000 for SMAC:

Download from:

http://www.firaxis.com/downloads_detail.cfm?file_id=60


Alpha Centauri Win 2000/XP Compatibility Update:_SMAC__Update_
Version_1.03f_
Download size:_8.48 Mb_
Date (American Format which is gay):_11/01/2002_

I will redownload and try again (and yes, I have tried the alternative OS thing), but I will not hold my breath. XP may be a solid system as far as stability, but the measures it takes with security and older OS based games is enough to drive me nuts.

Sukenis, I just purchased a new Dell Dimension 8250 3Ghz with Windows XP Pro, and a Radeon 9700 Pro graphics card, and both SMAC and SMAX work flawlessly! I did NOT need to load the Windows XP/2000 compatiability patch, but I did have to edit my "Alpha Centauri.ini" file and set "ForceOldVoxelAlgorithm=1". I also changed ds3d=0 and eax=0 which seemed to make the movies smoother.

I love this game, but i have found others that dident like it.

I for one thing, still think that its a civers game, not like civ 3 which was dumbed down for the mass market.

@SINISTER1974:
> I cant believe i wasted my money on this game!!!!!!!!

I have heard of people not believing in God, but why exactly don't you believe you wasted your money?

I guess, what you are trying to point at is:
> I believe i wasted my money on this game!!!!!!!!


Seriously, I love this game. Given its age, it is IMHO better than CivIII

@Sukenis: I have seen this problem too. Without and with patch.

Originally posted by Sukenis
You all have forgotten one major drawback to SMAC, how poorly it works on Windows XP. I have been unable to play the game for about 5 months now since I can only get SMAC to work for short time periods and SMAX will not work in any form. I even have the patches for it.

I've never had any problem running SMACX on XP. It runs smoother on XP than it did on Windows 98.

Since we're on the topic of how SMACX works on XP, please, help!!! The gfx for Sealurk, Spore Launcher, Fungal Tower, and all Battle Ogres either don't appear, or are completely wrong. I also have the wrong graphics for the new techs and no explanation to them... Quotes work great, though...

P.S. The game is awesome! :goodjob:

Hey all,

I don't have XP and I use an old crappy machine. But, I have to say that I've never had any problem with SMAC other than needing a direct X download a long time ago when I first bought the game.

I can't imagine anyone not liking it, if you like sci-fi or are a true Sid Meier fan.

On the other hand, some people don't like root beer floats, so I suppose to each his own.

John

P.S.

Good luck to those who are struggling with XP and be sure to post your fixes, Amenhotep7
: )

Whe I fist played this game after years of playing Civ 2 to death I thought the controls where kinda confusing but I got used to it I stoped playing Civ I Civ II and Civ III but I dont think I will stop playing SMAC the best Sid Mier has ever made

I didnt like SMAC at first either. I think it takes a while to grow on you. You have to figure everything out to appreciate the depth the game has.

Cant they release the game soon...I like to find (Alien Crossfire) for a low price some where... I find it for 1 US on Ebay US but they only ones ho sell it only delivers in US ( and Im in Sweden/Europa).

And all others take full price for it...sob...

I tired on playing the demo now ( and I donlt have the will to pay 25 US for it ) ;)

It well grown on you.