SMAX Guide Poll

Velociryx · March 7, 2002, 18:59

Was just curious to see how many folks that are still lingering around here make use of what version(s) of the old gal....check any and all that apply, and while we're on the topic, let me know what section(s) tend to be the most reference/least reference!

-=Vel=-

NorthSwordsman · March 7, 2002, 19:26

Hi again, Vel. Long time no see!

I find the sections dealing with doctrine:defense and crawlers to be the most referenced sections for me. I do make use of the whole .pdf file, but I frequently go back to those two sections to assist my memory. (Getting old here, hmm?).

By the way, drop in over at the SMAC Academy at cgn and see what we got. We got resources this place doesn't.

RedFred · March 7, 2002, 19:53

Good to see you posting again, Vel.

I am a proud owner of v4.0.

Lots of good stuff throughout the book but page 207 probably gets thumbed the most. The rush build energy cost table is very handy for squeezing out every last rush build per turn in MP.

Velociryx · March 7, 2002, 20:13

Howdy guys, and thanks for the welcome back! Ohhh...I've been lurking in my spare time away from Velocigames, where we're slowly beating life into the new game...so far, so good on that front, and it's shaping up to be *exceedingly* cool! Still, I miss this place, you know? And ahhh, the memories of when there were scores of posts an hour here!

NS, will head over to the academy soon as I hit "post" here....you've got me curious to see what you guys have put together!

Unless there's a SMAC2, or a massive call for it here, I doubt I'll further upgrade the guide from its present form, but are there, in your minds, any glaring weaknesses in it? Any spots that just don't get it done? If so....perhaps I'll start a thread here that serves as sort of a "companion to" version 4?

-=Vel=-

NorthSwordsman · March 7, 2002, 23:45

Offhand, I cannot think of anything at the moment. your guide is solid. I really cannot think of anything that needs improving.

Patashu · March 8, 2002, 01:00

Where can I download this? Sounds useful.

Velociryx · March 8, 2002, 11:12

Thank ya, NS!

And Patashu, the link above, entitled "At Long Last" contains information regarding version 4.0 of the guide, and an older (free...so you can see what sorts of stuff you can expect from version 4), is available at my site (http://www.angelfire.com/sc2/hartpence)

Just click on the "discussion forums" link, and then scroll down till you see the Alpha Centauri section.....it's a big 'un, but it's there....

Good luck to you, and happy reading!

-=Vel=-

GeneralTacticus · March 8, 2002, 18:59

Who is actually selling the guide, and where? I ask because my mum has an aversion to paying for things over the internet.

NorthSwordsman · March 8, 2002, 19:09

Vel wrote it, and Booksurge is selling it for them. I've brought it twice (lost the first one when I developed HD problems)... if you pay by Credit Card, you're pretty safe. Booksurge customer support is pretty good.

For example, when I brought it the second time, there was a problem with the download, I could not get the file. As a result, I wound up paying for something, and got nothing. I wrote to booksurge, and 15 minutes later, they emailed the .pdf file to me and verified everything was ok, and apologized for the problem. They seem to be a good enough place.

DilithiumDad · March 8, 2002, 19:18

I enjoyed the book. My favorite section was "The Metagame" and the multiplayer sections. Much was not new owing to much time spent on this forum.

My son (age 13) loved the book. Having not really visited this forus at all, everything was a revealation to him. As his primary competitor, I can attest to the fact that it greatly improved his game!

Velociryx · March 10, 2002, 04:14

That's awesome news re: your son, DD! One of the BIGGEST things I had hoped to accomplish with the guide was that a totally new player could grab it up, read it over, and start kicking some tailfeathers. Good to hear indeed!

-=Vel=-

gwillybj · March 11, 2002, 01:12

Sorry, I have to stay with the freebies - for now

. Depression (financial and other) hit this household hard. Bookmarked them here, d/l'd both as text. Been recommending them

at every possible opportunity here, at Delphi (Reliable AC Players), and at agfa-c (alt.games.firaxis.alpha-centauri).

bobyk464 · March 11, 2002, 09:57

I most often refer to the segments with faction-specific information - both the section summarizing faction abilities and how to best play them, and the section describing how to best play against any particular faction. I think the details of diplomacy, economy, and combat could have been designed differently without significantly altering the scope of the game. But the SE table and the differences between the factions are the real core of the game.

Velociryx · March 11, 2002, 20:56

Hey, thanks for the plugs at those other forums, and it's quite okay with me that you're sticking to the free versions! 'tis nice to see that they're still getting use too!

Also good to hear that there's a pretty good cross section of the guide being referenced frequently by different folks...that's good news....the ol' gal seems pretty sturdy then....

-=Vel=-

ravagon · March 11, 2002, 22:45

It improved my game immensely. To the point in fact when I started thinking about challenging its creator to a PBEM.

About a minute later though, when the implications filtered through and sanity returned I thought better of it.

Is there a reliable way to mail order the paperbook version? It isn't available here and to my mind nothing beats a good novel of a guide/manual that you can take away from the computer, sit down and read for an hour at a time.

[Edit: Ooops. Forgot the question.

Absolutely no improvements to be made that I can think of. 5 stars all round as it is

]

Velociryx · March 12, 2002, 00:32

Hiya Rav!

And thank you! I gotta admit, every once in a while, I get the almost overwhelming urge to SMAC for a while, but....so many things going on that although the game is still on my hard drive, I haven't had the time to play. ::wistful sigh::

The upshot tho, is that Velocigames is nearing having a working alpha of it's own game out, and you know....I gotta help playtest it....

-=Vel=-
PS: as to the ordering...booksurge has been steadily improving on their order processing and delivery. Times still aren't quite as advertised (within 48 hours) but they're getting better every week....

wgabrie · March 12, 2002, 02:07

Okay I hate to be the picky one,

but in an earlier version of Vel's guide there were base improvement recommendations for each faction for each part of the game. Sister Miriam for example had the early game recommendations of: Rec. Tanks, Energy Banks, and Recreation Commons. That's been taken out of the latest versions of the guide. Why?

I for one am a pure expansionist, pure momentum player at heart, and I hate to stop building colony pods and/or impact rovers and build infrastructure. That's why I miss those recommendations, they told me what to build and when.

The problem with me is that when I start building I don't want to stop, and I start building every facilty in the book. This results in high matenice fees, some of which can hurt my play style. When I just want to push my natural talents, not second guess myself wondering which facilty to build next, and which to avoid. Got that?

GeneralTacticus · March 12, 2002, 04:21

GRRR! Imanaged to dowload the E-book after one day, but it's saved as an attatchment and I can't figure out how to open it. WTF am I supposed to do?

EDIT: I tried to download it again, with the default name as a .exe file, and it now tells me it's corrupted.

Velociryx · March 12, 2002, 10:18

Hiya Wgabrie! Hmmm....that's an excellent point. I had not realized that the recommended facility builds from the older version were something folks referenced a good deal. Ultimately, the decision stemmed from the notion that I wanted the guide to be more strategic in its nature (broader in its overall scope) than tactical (per base, or per unit in nature), so the two sections that hit hardest (outright removal) were the sections covering specific facility builds and detailed army construction (in one of the older versions, I went into MUCH more detail about exactly how to construct viable attack/defense forces, down to how many minerals of production you could reasonably tie up without degrading your position on a per base basis....decided that was just tooooo much detail).

But if you wanna, I can make sure that information is floating fairly near the surface around here...::as Vel rummages around for older copies of the guide::

General Tacticus: Shoot me your e-mail addy man, lemme see what I can do!

-=Vel=-