Anyone remember the SMAC demo?

fanatic civver · October 9, 2001, 20:27

The SMAC demo was released a few weeks before the game IIRC.

In the tiny world it was possible to conquer the globe before the time limit ran out. It was funny to see people getting scores of 1000%+

I had the highest score, about 1000%, for a few days before some guy got something like 1500%.

It would have been fun if they did that with civ 3 too, although I would imagine that the forums would be flooded with whiners if that happened

Christantine The Great · October 9, 2001, 21:39

Actually the forum is flooded with whiners because it didn't happen. Firaxis already announced that there wouldn't be a demo because they are very confident with the game engine (used it before in SMAC) and feel that a private one is sufficient.

Skanky Burns · October 9, 2001, 22:06

Ill go one step further. This forum would be flooded with whiners regardless of what Firaxis did

dainbramaged13 · October 9, 2001, 22:10

anyone *remember* the smac demo? thats *all* ive ever played of it

Chuckles · October 10, 2001, 03:27

Ya, the SMAC colours were so good I rushed right out and bought AOK.

Mannamagnus · October 10, 2001, 03:40

I remember you could hack the game to make it last for more than 100 turns. (needless to say I did buy the game as soon as I could get my hands on a copy

)

TresXF · October 10, 2001, 11:12

chuckles wrote:

Quote:

Ya, the SMAC colours were so good I rushed right out and bought AOK

well, you got the colors and i got one of the best ai's in a strategy game. smac still rules

Ozymandous · October 10, 2001, 11:23

Who needs an AI in a strategy game when you can go online and play against others?

Heh, have you visited the MS Zone and seen the amount of people who still play AOK??

With few exceptions being able to compete against (or with

) other people is what gives a game looonnnggg legs.

Lee Johnson · October 10, 2001, 15:11

The demo was released around 3:00 P.M., Eastern Time, on December 24, 1998. I remember this because it happened to coincide with my birthday. Happy Birthday to me!

I also remember that I got my DSL service hooked up less than a week before. I was chortling with glee watching that download zoom onto my hard disk at about 3:15.

SMAC didn't appear in stores until early February, 1999. That was just a few days after my son was born... five weeks early!

I didn't get much SMAC time for a long while after that, basically turning on the computer for short spells when I should have been napping. Ah, the life of the incorrigible gamer.

tniem · October 10, 2001, 23:17

Let's see what I remember about the SMAC demo, they delayed the game because they weren't ready. Then they gave us a demo for the Christmas season instead. What a present.

Fast forward to this year, no delay, no demo, no public beta test, no mp. I can't wait til Firaxis goes back to making games for EA and gets away from a rotten company like Infogrames that hopefully will go out of business soon after releasing MOO3.

TresXF · October 11, 2001, 00:18

ozymandous wrote:

Quote:

Who needs an AI in a strategy game when you can go online and play against others?

tbs games and multiplayer? imho that's boring. i prefer rts games like starcraft or ground control (or 3d-shooters

) for online gaming.
tbs games like smac or civ are the classic singleplayer experience for me, therefore i expect a strong ai.

Simpleton · October 11, 2001, 05:15

Yah I remember waiting 2 hours to download it with a 33.6 modem. I think it failed the first time frack!!! But it was worth it.

I remember when the full game came out. I think I had an Biochemistry final the next day but I took a break from studying and went out and bought it. I put it aside and tried to study BUT I had to try it. 3 frikking hours later I forced myself to stop. I actually uninstalled it and put it in the basement to lessen the temptation.....
I pity all you people in school right now cause I'll know how you'll all feel after Oct 31st.