I think this game is way too hard to play... any tips?

[Illusion13]

Its not the game play that gets me stumped, I've been playing Civ III for quite a long time now... Its that... well...

-The terrain is WAY too hard to see which type is which...
-Fungi is WAY too annoying as they are EVERY where, and you cant build on them...
-Things take really long to build, and like, expanding isnt that easy at all...
-Most controls arent clear, as to which button does what and stuff...
-Mind worms are way too annoying...
-Pods are most of the times, useless...

And, questions... Sometimes, some landmarks have names, like, "The ruins" or something, what exactly do they mean/do? And, does Colony Pod/Formers take any population to make? And, where can I find a complete tech tree?

 

[Yuri2356]

Oddest thing, I faced all of these problems when I first tried SMAC.

1) Well, if you realy need to know you can always right click for terrain info.

2) Then clear it out. Use formers to plant forrests and clear fungi, or just play on a map with little alien life.

3) Well, things are slow at first but get easier once you start terraforming.

4) For that, just consult the manual or the handy-dandy Datalinks!

5) To deal with mind worms either A-Destroy their habitats to prevent them from spawning, or B- Play green (with a high planet rating) so you have a chance of capturing mind worms instead.

6) That's just a thing of luck realy.

7) Certain terrain features give resource boni to to all square within them. A full list in avalible in the manual/datalinks.

8) Colony Pods cost 1 Pop, Formers cost 0.

9) No Idea about the tech tree. I suppose they might have one over at 'poly.

 

[Cuivienen]

And, questions... Sometimes, some landmarks have names, like, "The ruins" or something, what exactly do they mean/do? And, does Colony Pod/Formers take any population to make? And, where can I find a complete tech tree?

1. There are a number of landmarks built into the game. they provide various bonuses. I think this is a complete list:

Mount Planet
~ Volcano, +1 Minerals and +1 Energy around the crater
~ No farms around the crater
~ No terrain improvements on the crater (Because of a bug, automated formers can improve the crater)

Monsoon Jungle
~ Jungle, +1 Nutrients on all tiles
~ Most terrain Rainy

Great Dunes
~ Desert, Mostly Arid terrain

Garland Crater
~ Crater, +1 Minerals on the central 9 tiles.

Sunny Mesa
~ Mesa, Elevated terrain

The Ruins
~ Ruins, 8 Monoliths surrounded by Xenofungus

Uranium Flats
~ Plains, +1 Energy each tile, mostly Flat terrain

New Sargasso
~ Sea Jungle, Large Expanse of Sea Fungus with Unity Pods at the center

Freshwater Sea
~ Fresh Water, +1 Nutrients in each tile

Geothermal Shallows
~ Geothermal Vents, +1 Energy each tile, mostly shallow seas

Pholus Ridge
~ Ridge, +1 Energy along the peaks

Nessus Canyon (never appears on random maps)
~ Canyon, Depressed terrain

Borehole Cluster (SMAX or final SMAC patch only)
~ Three pre-placed Boreholes

Manifold Nexus (SMAX or final SMAC patch only)
~ +1 Planet Rating to a faction which has it within their borders
~ +1 Science Rating to a Progenitor faction with it within their borders (SMAX only)

UNS Unity Wreckage (SMAX only)
~ 150 Energy credits, Mining Laser (2.1.1 infantry), location of human capitals and a Scout Chopper from various locations within the wreckage

Fossil Field Ridge (SMAX only)
~ Deep Sea Ridge, +1 Minerals in each tile


2. Colony Pods cost one populatioon, Formers cost none.

3. Don't know, sorry :/

 

[Cuivienen]

8) Colony Pods cost 1 Pop, Formers cost 1.

Just making sure that our newbie gets the facts right -- Formers do not cost population.

 

[Yuri2356]

That's a typo Cuiv.

Edit: And It's now been corrected.

 

[Illusion13]

Eh, thanks guys

 

[Cuivienen]

Not really a tree, but possibly helpful:

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Civ:SMAC_Tech_Tree

 

[Yuri2356]

Wow, Wiki has everything...

 

[Terje]

If it's still too hard, you can change therules in alpha.txt in the alpha centauri folder.
One example of things that meks it easier is to change the # nutrients (food) each population eats pr. turn from 2 to 1. If you do this, you might consider slowing down the research rate a bit as well...

 

[Kojiro]

It's not hard. Just build formers and everything starts speeding up when the land gets developed.

 

[CrackedCrystal]

And, where can I find a complete tech tree?

Other than the official one that comes with the game, I like this one...

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/pmm1/games/smac_ref_mtl_101.pdf

The problem is the tech tree is so complex, its hard to make one.

If you prefer a chart instead of a tree, Dave Gager made an excellent one (but for SMAC only, not SMACX) which can be found on this web page.

http://members.tripod.com/ACHeaven/captcomal.htm

scroll down to charts nd download the one by Dave Gager, there are several but I think his is the best.

 

[arvegil]

I have found that the green/Gaians are the easiest faction to play. The game designed them to be militarily weak, but they can capture worms in the fungus from the get-go (and can get food from fungus squares). So, they can be a very potent early-game military power, using worms instead of normal units. Also, the worms move so fast in fungus, it is like having motorized troops when everyone else is plodding along on foot.

Also, you have to love the "surround opponent's new city with worms and demand capitulation" function. A great fast way to expand, it works better than in CivIII.

 

[Heniu]

the hive is the easiest, far away from every other faction. swithing to police state and planned gives you perfect social eng. choices. [there are no problems with efficiency - Yang does not feel negative effects of it]. - +3growht, +2 industry, +3 or 2 support and +2 police with only single, not important disadventage [-1 economy]

I agree that it is also easy to win fast playing Deidre, it's one of the best faction for rushing, but anyway Yang is more powerful.

 

[Elrohir]

I always found SMAC easier than Civ 3...Huh....


If you feel like you can never get an empire going, play on an Archipeligo map. You'll most likely start on an island of your own, and you'll be left alone for quite awhile, giving you the chance to fill up the island and research some techs before entering the world at large. (And then you can always expand via transports or Sea Cities)

I always found the Peacekeepers to be the easiest faction to play as.