Returning to SMAC

[SMACDown]

I absolutely love this game, spent alot of time playing it. I havent played it in years though. Amazing how rusty I am, but it will be fun trying to pick it back up again. My fave factions in the past have been the Spartans and the Believers.

I am having a bit of trouble though. Got the game over at GOG, and it runs as good as it ever did on my old Win98 machine. At first I didn't think it was patched, but Petek helped get me pointed in the right direction over on the GOG forums, I saw that I did in fact have the latest version. Glad to see you are here as well Petak. So thats great.

Still cant seem to find the Manifold Nexus and Borehole Cluster though. From reading the Alpha.txt. It looks like they should still be in ver 5.0, but I have been over the map with a fine tooth comb and I dont see them. As I said, its been 5 years, so maybe they unllock through the course of the game and I just havent got that far yet?

Whats the story, are they not included in the GOG version? Do they need to be discovered through research and/or exploration? Are they there and I am just not seeing them? Anyone with the GOG version know what the scoop is? Are they on your map? Any help sorting this would be appreciated.

 

[vyeh]

I believe Manifold Nexus and Borehole Clusters are SMAX landmarks.

 

[SMACDown]

I believe Manifold Nexus and Borehole Clusters are SMAX landmarks.

hmm, if that is the case, could explain why I dont see them lol. Thanks for the tip. Back in the day, I did have SMAX. So most likely, that is what I am remembering.

 

[Petek]

Hey SMACDown,

Glad to see you on CFC.

The Manifold Nexus and Borehole Cluster are indeed present in GOG-SMAC. Neither was present in the original release, but both were added in subsequent patches. Since you refer to "THE map," I'm going to assume that you're referring to the Map of Planet (either the standard or the huge size). Those maps are part of the original release and apparently weren't updated for subsequent patches. Neither landmark appears in either map (they were added to the Map of Planet in SMAX). However, if you create a custom map, either landmark might appear (landmarks appear at random in custom maps).

HTH

Petek

 

[SMACDown]

Hey SMACDown,

Glad to see you on CFC.

The Manifold Nexus and Borehole Cluster are indeed present in GOG-SMAC. Neither was present in the original release, but both were added in subsequent patches. Since you refer to "THE map," I'm going to assume that you're referring to the Map of Planet (either the standard or the huge size). Those maps are part of the original release and apparently weren't updated for subsequent patches. Neither landmark appears in either map (they were added to the Map of Planet in SMAX). However, if you create a custom map, either landmark might appear (landmarks appear at random in custom maps).

HTH

Petek

Ok, thanks. Was able to figure out that as long as I play a random or a custom map, the landmarks do show up. So, for me, this begs the question is there a way for me to customize the original map of Planet and mod it to show the new landmarks so that they always appear?

 

[Petek]

Ok, I created a custom map and sure enough, they were both there. So, it doesn't look like there is a way to get them to appear on the standard Planet map. So, what settings will give me the closest to the original Planet settings?

I can think of a couple of options. I'll consider it and reply tomorrow.

 

[Petek]

I created custom Maps of Planet (both sizes) to include the Borehole Cluster and Manifold Nexus. These landmarks are placed the same as on the corresponding maps from SMAX. The maps may be downloaded here.

 

[SMACDown]

I created custom Maps of Planet (both sizes) to include the Borehole Cluster and Manifold Nexus. These landmarks are placed the same as on the corresponding maps from SMAX. The maps may be downloaded here.

Wow! Talk about your fast service. Thank you very much, Petek! Hopefully, GOG will eventually secure the rights to sell SMAX. But in the meantime, and in case they can't, these maps will help a great deal. Thanks again. Now, if you will all excuse me, I have some business to settle on Planet