Reverse Engineering

[feelotraveller]

Hi one and all,

I've recently started playing SMAC and have come across the term 'reverse engineering'.

What exactly is it and how do I do it?

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[Petek]

Howdy! Welcome to the Alpha Centauri forum.

"Reverse engineering" means something like "using the unit workshop to create a new unit that you couldn't otherwise create." For example, suppose that your Probe Team subverts another faction's Impact Rover (4-1-2) and you haven't yet discovered Nonlinear Mathematics. You can load the Impact Rover in the unit workshop and change it to an Infantry chassis, thus creating an Impact Infantry (4-1-1). Another example: Suppose that you've discovered Planetary Networks (which allows you to build Probe Teams), but not Doctrine: Mobility (so you don't have the Speeder chassis yet). You can load the Probe Team in the unit workshop and change its equipment to Hand Weapons, thus creating a Scout Rover. In each case you've created a unit for which you don't have the required tech. That's what's usually meant by "reverse engineering."

Hope that helps. Please post again if you have any other questions.

Petek

 

[feelotraveller]

Thanks Petek.

After trying it out I'm wondering if it's considered an exploit, particularly reverse engineering probes to get rovers? No real point going for Doctrine: Mobility except for getting to Doctrine: Flexibility or Doctrine: Loyalty then.

Sure to have some more questions in due course but managing to answer lots of them myself by just playing around at the moment. (And then Civ V arrives...)

 

[vyeh]

Using reverse engineering on a probe team to get rovers is considered an exploit.