SMAX - All Factions Mod?

[Flak Fox]

Hey guys,

I was wondering if anyone has ever stumbled on a mod that allows for all factions to be played in a single game and (most likely) also allows for larger maps to be played on?

I know a bit of programming but not enough about how Alpha Centauri works 'under the hood' to take on this project by myself, if it doesn't already exist. I've wanted a mod like this since I've owned the game and I was just curious if anyone else had better luck finding such a mod?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Petek]

Flak Fox --

No mods or anything else allow more than seven factions in a game. One would have to modify the exe file to do so, and no one has taken on such a project. On the other hand, it's definitely possible to play on really large maps. What size did you have in mind?

 

[Flak Fox]

I see, I wasn't sure if the size restriction was part of the source code or could be configured in a data file somewhere. I had to check.

As for the size of the map, maybe 1.5x to 2.0x the size of a huge map on default?

 

[Petek]

For map sizes in that range, start a new game as follows: Start Game --> Customize Random Map --> Custom Size, and enter your desired horizontal and vertical dimensions. The default dimensions for a Huge map are 64x128. You can't create maps with horizontal or vertical dimensions greater than 256 using this method.

If you are playing SMAC, this process should result in satisfactory starting locations for all factions. However, SMAX apparently has a different method of assigning starting locations on very large maps that results in some factions being placed on very small islands or even being eliminated on turn one. The simplest workaround to this problem is to start a game as explained above, then go into the Scenario Editor (Ctrl + k) and save the map. Then start a new game, select the Load Map File option and select the map you saved. The starting locations of all factions should then be better.

For more information, see my thread about Really Big Maps on WePlayCiv.

 

[Flak Fox]

Oh yes, I always aware of the entering a custom size for a new map, but as you said there is a cap on how big you can make it.

This cap is what I was kind of looking to eliminate, particularly if I could find a mod for having all factions present.

I guess I might be better off waiting for an Alpha Centauri 2

 

[Petek]

The link in my previous post contains a description of how to remove the cap.