Secret Projects

[dreadhead7]

I forgot to mention The Space Elevator. I put this in my science base because it doubles your energy production at the base. Naturally, with all those SP's in one base, you'd best believe I keep it well defended! In addition, I always make this base my headquarters, so there is no inefficiency. I always try to build my science base atop Mount Planet, but the Borehole Cluster, the Sunny Mesa, or the Uranium Flats work just as well. I once had a base that was putting out over 400 energy per turn!

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"Shake the world beneath your feet up"
--Johnny Clegg

 

[thealien_83]

I am by far too indecisive to name a few Projects I like more, but I shall attempt to create a small list of favourites. Now of course in truth these vary depending on just which faction I play with, and on how well the game goes. If I am leading by far I will always try to build all the projects I can before the AI does, but that is hardly always a possibility.

Now I'll make a "top five" here. In no special order mind you, just ten Projects I like very much.

1. Weather Paradigm ( despite knowing full and well that having a few extra formers well makes up for the bonus WP gives I still like it. It's a fairly useful long-term project, especially when building those time-demanding Boreholes )
2. Cyborg Factory ( needless to say it is useful for *any* faction to receive that lovely all around +2 bonus to morale, one does not even need be militaristicly aligned to see the benefit of having superiorly trained troops )
3. Cloning Vats ( super-sized cities in no-time, not only does it remove the bad parts from Thought Control, but it also makes the cities grow enormous in the blink of an eye. Kind of kills the usefulness of the Plantery Transit System for one )
4. Hunter-Seeker Algorithm ( whilst probes of your own may block out enemy ones, I find it so much more comfortable to be positively IMMUNE to probe operations rather than just being protected from them. Not only is it annoying to rebuild lost probes but they don't quite work to defend your entire armed forces either )
5. Citizen's Defence Force ( admittedly building and keeping Perimiter Defences up is not much of a hassle, but for much the same reason as the HS I like CDF. With it you will never be without defenses, and that is nice. The silly AI can't sabotage it and you don't have to worry about building it )

There's a list for ya. Of course, like I said, I like them ALL! But I tend more towards "global" projects than I do such ones as Merchant's Exchange, Supercollider etc, because I do not like ones only affecting one base ( if globally in the big picture )

 

[cataclysm]

had been a long time since I played SMAC

but I remember the last time I played, I ended up with all the secret projects

I believe I played at the 4th or 5th difficulty level

 

[beest]

What is the best project depends on the level of difficulty I am playing, with what fraction, what state my cities are in, etc. Most wonders are quite nice, but you can certainly win without.

One of the most useful projects I find are:
The Weather Paradigm, formers work faster and can do more, which means more resources quicker, and faster growth.
The Cyborg Factory, saves a great deal of building, and increases productivity.
The Human Genome Project, always good to help you when your cities get annoying and revolting al the time.

Probably you wont need at the lower levels, but heck, you dont need any wonders there and I can't remember when I played lower then trancend.