Wow! Is SMAC hard or what.

[SMACDown]

Ok, first a few observations, then a few questions.

Crawlers work, and if you can get a few formers to fix up things around your base you can really have your crawlers go to town. Another observation, initially I always tried to jump out to an early lead in my games. But that only gets the other factions gunning for you, I think playing at a slower place kept alot of attention off of me and allowed me to build more of an infrastructure.

Also noticed this on Deirdre that she can get along with Lal really well. Playing as Santiago, I can never seem to get along with Lal.

Also, noticed that there is just no pleasing Miriam Godwinson.

Ok, those observations were based on two games 1 where I eventually won as Santiago by being elected World Leader. The other game I resigned as Deidre.

Santiago, I won the game but realy didnt know what I was doing. I think my score was only 40-48%. And it seemed to last forever.

Lady Deirdre Skye, I actually think I played better (ie used more of the game to get where I did) but I actually gave in when after taking Yang down, I was going to have to do the same thing to the Believers and the Peacekeepers.

One of the earliest challenges I faced came about 2290 or 2300. Morgan was going to do something that would force everyone to capitualte if not stopped by 2312. Well, I was lucky because I had already made the decison to go after Morgan because because he beat me to the Weather Paradigm, and that seemed like a good Secret Project for the Gaians. So, I was already building up my military. And it also so happened that Morgan Industries base was right next door.

So, my first question, what did Morgan do and how did he set himself up for that? My next question, if it's a faction that I am not in a position to physically challenge is there a way to stop it or should I just quit the game there. Finally, is there a way to guard against that throughout the game?

Next topic. I noticed that in addition to the resources in each square, there are some squares there are visible nutrients, energy and minerals. Is it good to build the respective collector on each resource? For example, is it good to build a farm right on top of the nutrient crystal or should I harvest from it with a crawler?

So, anyway, things were going good. Then the Hive declares vendetta on me. I was able to defeat Yang pretty easily because I was able to repeal the UN Charter. Alot of his bases were pretty close together. So with a combo of nuclear missiles, conventional missiles and a handful of of ground units and needlejets.

So at this time, it was the Gaians, Believers and Peacekeepers with each having an equal portion of the map.

I tried and tried to get Lal and Miriam to unite behind me, but they weren't having any of that. A few turns later, Miriam out of the blue attacked. This inspite of having sharing anything I could with her, including the ability for nuclear weapons and orbital spaceflight. It was shortly after this I just resigned, it being around 2370, and didnt feel like going through the same thing with Miriam then Lal.

Like I said, I resigned so my score was only like 10 or 20%. So, 2370 and still having to conquer 2/3s of the map? Am I going through my opponents too slow? Do I need to be more agressive? I probablly could have hung in there against Miriam and called a truce at some point, because as long as I was in the game I refrained from atrocities. Yang, I pretty much forced myself to go all the way, once I used the nuclear weapons.

Was a little warn out by the time Miriam declared vendetta because though I dealt with Yang pretty much by myself and for the most part only losing a unit or two, my infrastructure was in bad shape. And before I had time to sure it up, she was in there blowing up formers and crawlers and anything the formers built to improve.

This game over all was a disppointment because I actually thought I did better here than on the Spartan game. I went in and altered my Social Engineering. I even made a flying colony pod. Was also the game where I figured out how to use crawlers. So I am adjusting to the learning curve.

So, are there any good guides that lay out the basics and maybe a few startegies? How about something that lays out the first 10 turns? That would be a big help. A problem right now is I dont know what order to build. I dont know if network nodes are better than biolabs or research hospitals, etc.

Any direction would be appreciated.

 

[civac]

Morgan attempted to corner the energy market. This is one way to win the game. For this to work you need a very large amount of energy credits depending on the number and size of all bases controlled by the other factions. You can try to this yourself under Menu->Head quarters->Corner energy market once you have researched some tech which I can't recall. If you do not have enough money the game will tell you exactly how much you need.


How to treat plots with resource specials depends on the circumstances.

Plot with food special: In early game plant a forest on it. Once you have discovered Ecological Engineering or constructed the Weather Paradigm build a farm and condensator on it.

Plot with mineral special: If rocky build a mine and road on it. Otherwise plant a forest. Later on, you can replace the forest/mine with a borehole.

Plot with energy special: Treat the same way as if there was no special. Exception: If you possess the Weather Paradigm but do not have Ecological Engineering such a plot is a good place for a borehole.


A good guide is Vel's strategy guide. It has some pretty advanced stuff but covers the basics as well.

 

[SMACDown]

Morgan attempted to corner the energy market. This is one way to win the game. For this to work you need a very large amount of energy credits depending on the number and size of all bases controlled by the other factions. You can try to this yourself under Menu->Head quarters->Corner energy market once you have researched some tech which I can't recall. If you do not have enough money the game will tell you exactly how much you need.


How to treat plots with resource specials depends on the circumstances.

Plot with food special: In early game plant a forest on it. Once you have discovered Ecological Engineering or constructed the Weather Paradigm build a farm and condensator on it.

Plot with mineral special: If rocky build a mine and road on it. Otherwise plant a forest. Later on, you can replace the forest/mine with a borehole.

Plot with energy special: Treat the same way as if there was no special. Exception: If you possess the Weather Paradigm but do not have Ecological Engineering such a plot is a good place for a borehole.


A good guide is Vel's strategy guide. It has some pretty advanced stuff but covers the basics as well.

Thanks for the tips and pointing me to Vel's guide. I noticed there is a section on the early stages of the game. I think it will be a big help.

Your points about the plots illustrate something else I am noticing about SMAC. Alot is situational. So there's not really anyway to say build A first, then B, then C. It all depends on your plots, techs, what the other factions are doing and so on. When I played it before, it was pretty much like I played in my Santiago game. That is beat everyone back til you either eradicate them or they'll vote for you.

As the Gaians, even though I had a lower score, I think it was a funner game for me because I delved a bit deeper into the game features, and was learning what certain things did. Additionally, I made it a point to use the databanks. So, this time around I am making it a point to take the learning curve bull by the horns.

As a side note I am a bit bummed that I don't have SMAX to upgrade with, but I think there is enough to keep me busy for now. I get through Vel's guide and look at the manual a bit, who knows maybe I'll be brave enough to play on something other than "citizen" and actually click the transcedence victory condition.

 

[Herfelt]

A rocky square with a mine will produce 4 minerals and nothing else (1 energy if there's a river), which makes it a perfect location for a supply crawler, since you dont "waste" any other resources.

And yeah, Miriam is a . You cant argue with religious people.. just like the real world

Personally I prefer Hive or Consciouness. I like the hive-style of just massing up units. You can create the biggest army once you got police-state + power.

 

[itai]

Also, noticed that there is just no pleasing Miriam Godwinson.

I tried and tried to get Lal and Miriam to unite behind me, but they weren't having any of that. A few turns later, Miriam out of the blue attacked. This inspite of having sharing anything I could with her, including the ability for nuclear weapons and orbital spaceflight. It was shortly after this I just resigned, it being around 2370, and didnt feel like going through the same thing with Miriam then Lal.

1. Never share free techs for no reason, u usually can always get something in return, and there is no good reason to share it.
2. Miriam, yang and santiago in that order are usually the more aggressive factions, so don't be surprised being attacked by them. especially if you're not on pact with them.
3. in truce and treaties factions can attack you freely, while denouncing pacts removes all factions troops from each other's territory. so watching for factions buildup of troops near border, and stocking troops in border cities is always welcome, especially against aggressive factions, which will often attack even treaty factions.

My next question, if it's a faction that I am not in a position to physically challenge is there a way to stop it or should I just quit the game there. Finally, is there a way to guard against that throughout the game?

1. no, you can always stop a faction at some point, even they far superior to you
2. be more technology advanced. quality exceeds numbers in most of the time.

Like I said, I resigned so my score was only like 10 or 20%. So, 2370 and still having to conquer 2/3s of the map? Am I going through my opponents too slow?
And before I had time to sure it up, she was in there blowing up formers and crawlers and anything the formers built to improve.

1. it depends on your play style. with the right kind of troops, strategy, and a bit luck, you can conquer a widespread area (like the big island in the middle) in no more then 10 (for example)
2. few strategies:1-building an aerospace, and to build tacticals and bombers, as they can counter attack and defend against bombing runs. 2-using copters to repeatedly attack a base which covers the harassing jets(the ai usually stock them in the same base), but remember to destroy enemy aerospace first. 3-my favorites, capture nearby bases, and oblivirate by choice(atrocity), to put up enough distance between you and harassing faction.

So, are there any good guides that lay out the basics and maybe a few startegies? How about something that lays out the first 10 turns? That would be a big help. A problem right now is I dont know what order to build. I dont know if network nodes are better than biolabs or research hospitals, etc.

most important things on start: 1-explore, so you'll know where you are, where can you expand, and what and who is near you and removing them if necessary(for full island control for example). 2-expand, for controlling any imporent landmarks, wining area over nearby opponents, and setting up an early steady backbone for construction, rea/eco/psy output, and later on expansion.
as for the order of build at start it's usually player preferences. i usually do former, rea commons, rcyc tanks, network node, reas hospitle, and usually building a colony pod or two somewhere in there. as for child crech, i usually avoid it untill hab if i play morgan, or build it before or after network node. and don't forget getting as much of the earliest secret projects as most of them are must(weather paradigm, virtual world, etc) and the rest are really helpful at the start.