Theory go to posters

[yeehi]

To get the best theory on playing the game, at which members' posts should I look?

For example, I seem to remember reading that mathematically, the best strategy is to get a particular technology (i forget which one) and cultivate sea fungus.

 

[GooglyBoogly]

The 'Best' Theory revolves around turn advantage, maximise that and you'll do fine.
Sea fungus is generally not the way to go until the later stages of the game, as nuclear reactor ships are expensive (especially formers). You probably meant kelp, which is like a sea forest/farm hybrid whereas harvesting fungus is only viable in the late game or with the Gaian faction. Even kelp is not the best use of your former turns. 'forest and forget' is a popular strategy, while crawler specialisation can give greater benefits as long as you are confortable with the micromanagment.

 

[vyeh]

Note that kelp expands like forest.

Look at the SMAC Academy.

Probably the best theory of the game is Vel's Guide to SMAX. Version 4.0 is a paperback available at Amazon. Earlier versions can be found on the net.