Custom Faction Balancing, PCX editor

[Kehgrehdid]

Recently I came up with a few custom factions for SMAC (I have the Sold Out version) that I'd appreciate community input on. What do you think?


SAURON'S FORCES
Basically imagining what it would be like for Sauron, the main enemy in Lord of the Rings, to make it to Planet with his orcs & other armies. Meant to be somewhat overpowered, too strong for any single faction to stand, so it would take at least two other factions joined together to defeat him.
++IND
+POLICE
+PROBE
--PLANET
IND BASE
FREE PERIMETER DEFENSE
AGGRESSIVE
LIKES POWER, POLICE STATE
HATES GREEN, DEMOCRACY
MAXIMIZE POLICE
HQ MOUNT DOOM
PRIORITY: CONQUER
LORD SAURON

RAVEN COALITION
Started out imagining a faction that started out with Doctrine: Air Power and nothing else, no preferences, but it kind of grew into this, meant to be a coalition of former fighter pilots, commercial pilots, and hobbyists that care more about flying than anything else.
+SUPPORT (pilots used to getting by on as little as they bring with them)
+EFFICIENCY
-POLICE
-GROWTH (too busy flying to take care of families)
-1 HAB (hangars take up a lot of living space)
FREE UNITY SCOUT CHOPPER
DOCTRINE: AIR POWER
ERRATIC
NO SOCIAL PREFERENCES
MAXIMIZE SUPPORT
HQ AIRBASE ONE
PRIORITY: EXPLORE
NAVIGATOR SUNSET MOON
Wondering whether I should add -1 research, since if they already know how to fly, they may not care to learn about much else, or if that would make them too weak overall. Also wondering about +2 support instead, if they are weak as is. Trying to keep in mind that Doc: Air Power on its own is a big jump - at least until someone sends a probe team.

DOBSON FAMILY COOPERATIVE
Basically, a faction where family, specifically the nuclear family is valued above almost all else.
+RESEARCH(inquisitive children encouraged)
+MORALE (remembering who they're fighting for gives focus)
+GROWTH (Families highly valued)
--ECON (single-income households, wealth seen as tool to be used, not treasure to be hoarded.)
+1 HAB
APPLIED PHYSICS (chosen really b/c it was the only level 1 tech the original 7 didn't share)
FREE CHILDREN'S CRECHE
PACIFISTIC
HATES POLICE STATE
MAXIMIZE GROWTH
HQ PANERA BREAD
PRIORITY: EXPLORE, BUILD
ELDER GRAHAM DOBSON
Debating giving a free colony pod or +2 growth instead of just one. I just don't want to to grow so fast they can't defend themselves, and instead become a bunch of big bases that are easy targets.

PTMWYK - Thanks!

Also, is there a good free way out there to make or edit pcx files? right now for custom facs I'll just copy then rename one of the original pcx files from one of the original teams that I feel most closely matches the custom one, but I'd like to make them more unique in the future. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[vyeh]

Debating giving a free colony pod or +2 growth instead of just one. I just don't want to to grow so fast they can't defend themselves, and instead become a bunch of big bases that are easy targets.

Are you aware that pop boom occurs if one can achieve +6 growth? If you are not modifying the alpha.txt file, there can be startling implications in the difference between + 1 growth and +2 growth. Particularly since there is a free Children's Creche that gives +2 growth. As soon as I could get a SE choice that gives me another +2, I'd be pop booming to an early victory.

If you want the Sauron faction to reflect LOR, you might want to give that faction a negative Probe rating rather than a positive one to reflect that it is vulnerable to a Frodo sneaking into Mordor.

Air Power is so overwhelming in a normal game that I suspect that if I had the Ravens, the game would be over as soon as I had the production to build a few (six or so) bombers. I suppose you could try to balance by a very steep IND penalty.

Of course, if the Raven Coalition and Dobson Family Cooperative are meant to be AI only factions, then my comments on them do not apply.

 

[Petek]

Agreed that a human starting with DA could wrap up the game very quickly. Also, if the Ravens are played by an AI, they probably will trade DA to the other AI (but not you!) in short order. Thinking about it, that might make the game more challenging for an experienced player.

 

[Kilkakon]

What sort of image manipulation programs do you have available? I can provide advice on custom pcx files.

 

[Kehgrehdid]

I think +1 Growth for the DFC is enough, since with the Children's Creches that gives a strong growth rating of 3 right off the bat while still requiring democracy and planned for pop-booms.

I guess I'd thought that the relatively high cost of needlejets in the early game would have been prohibitive for the Ravens. I could indeed give them -2 (or even -3) Industry, which would hinder them, but there would still make it a race to trade or probe with them. I know the Firaxians - the "easter egg" faction with singularity engines is very OP, but I thought I could make a similar faction based around a particular tech and make it balanced. It'd still be nice to figure out a way to make it work.

I'd thought about giving Sauron a negative probe rating, but the whole point of the LOTR journey was how impossible it was to get in - remember the Black Gate? Considering the Eye that could see anywhere, informants like Wormtongue and the Nazgul (Imagine them as a super-elite probe team), and I thought a positive rating would be more fitting.

I don't presently have any editing software, so I'd be looking at something from free online, like maybe Gimp or Picasa.

 

[Kilkakon]

+1 Growth is huge enough, yeah... Growth is easily the most important civic stat in the game.

The main thing about whatever program you choose is that it needs to be able to open PCX files and support 256 colours. GIMP should do this fine... I'll admit that I don't like it personally but others have found success with it.