Thread about nothing

Adam_Smith · June 16, 2000, 19:06

I still love the Believer music from SMAC 4. Damn those guys! They messed up good when they failed to add it to SMACX.

I played a semi-newby this morning. He's a pretty good sport. I played him last night too. I beat him pretty good both times, but he never gave up. I had to tell him that there was no chance left for him. He didn't know the difference. Bless him.

Anyway, in the game this morning I whipped the stink out of the Spartan AI. She was in the jungle and she was cocky. I had a chance to get some good production before the war while she beat up Dee. Then it was a stalemate until I got AMA and switched to Power. I had a bunch of impact rovers and they all turned to elite. 10 or so I think. I also had some elite impact infantry. I knocked her on her you know what when I switched to Power. The drums were playing and all. Yeah, I will play anyone SMAC as long as I can be the Believers.

This is a thread about nothing so anyone can say anything here.

Adam_Smith · June 16, 2000, 23:43

BTW, does anybody know if there is a way to fix the sound for the Believers so it is the same as it is in regular SMAC? Maybe there is a fix file or something somewhere.

Neptunus · June 17, 2000, 02:45

Well, for me this was a thread about everything (almost), because that's exactly what I was asking desperately back at "help". That is, if there is a way to select the background music / sound no matter what faction you're playing. For example the Believers and the Spartans have the most relaxing background sound (the chorus and the wind), and I would prefer to hear that sound while playing for example UoP. With SMAX things are horrible. It's the same sound whatever faction you may select and the sound itself is unbearable (according to my tastes). I always switch the sound off when playing SMAX. Indeed, any help would be appreciated.

waynehead · June 17, 2000, 09:32

You know, I've never played with the sound(the music, that is). Should I start? I think I will.

Oh, and doncha just hate Miriam? Seems like she is always just begging to get run over. I mean, here I am, minding my own business in my empire, and she always attacks. Makes me sick, it does.

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Adam_Smith · June 17, 2000, 13:27

That is a good point. She is the most hated faction out there. And I supect the the biggest haters of Miriam are those that can't run fundy well or even at all. You can keep peace with her if you do that, but it does make the game tough. The alternative is conquering her, and that is almost always more costly than beneficial. If you can run Fundy and join her against her enemies you might do pretty good. Eventually, you will have to take her on. I think it would be very difficult to win running Fundy 24/7 unless you did it momentum style.

On the music, I don't think the Believers have the same music as the Spartans. The Spartans have the wind, but the Believers don't. The Believers have base drums when the is combat or declaration of war. They have special conquering music too. It' great. In SMACX they only have the same boring music, I think the Spatans have the same music there.

LoD · June 17, 2000, 18:04

As for playing Miriam: In MP, I usually find myself on the same techlevel as other factions, even in times of peace. Why? Because whenyou switch to 0% Labs you have a hell a lot of cash. On top of that, human players usuallysell you tech for no more than 50 ec, which is a good bargain.

LoD

Neptunus · June 17, 2000, 20:03

Hey A_S are you, or anyone alse aware of any kind of trick that could make possible to hear the Believers or the Spartans background sound when playing any other faction in SMAC and (especially) SMAX ?
LoD already knows about this question of mine (he actually posted a reply to that).
I would appreciate any sort of help on that issue.

Adam_Smith · June 17, 2000, 20:15

I can't help you Neptunis. I wish I could.

Neptunus · June 18, 2000, 00:56

Hey Waynehead! If you REALLY hate Miriam start playing with the Believers. You don't know what you're missing. That faction is excellent for early domination, makes a very interesting game, and has a really relaxing sound. One of my favourites ! Just play Miriam with Democratic, Green and Knowledge SE choices. You still win, but you win without Miriam blocking the way...

waynehead · June 18, 2000, 08:44

I just turned on the SMAX music for Domai, and boy does it suck. I hope it gets better for some of the others.

Neptunus · June 18, 2000, 10:11

Waynehead, what exactly do you mean "music for Domai" ?
I don't know about you guys but MY SMAX has the SAME music for all 7 factions (human and alien). That's why I keep bringing the issue so often. The whole music problem with SMAX is frustrating (music, after all, is yet another dimension for these games...)

waynehead · June 18, 2000, 11:54

I thought there was individual faction music. I guess not. I haven't played with the music for so long, I didn't know. If this is just the general music, then it sux; in general.

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LoD · June 18, 2000, 17:31

Neptunus: From my experience, the "music" is simply a sequence of files played from the fx directory. To solve the problem you have to find that sequence, and rearrange the files. Alternatively, you could hack into the exec and change it, but it would be a hard task.

LoD

PS. Keep in mind that some of the fx are interface-triggered (eg. by mouse clicks).

Adam_Smith · June 18, 2000, 17:42

You have to have some kind of programing software and some know how for that. The question is, "has anybody done it, and if so where are the files?"

Neptunus · June 18, 2000, 18:34

LoD I'm afraid you're right. The problem is that all those little files in the fx directory represent sounds which are too fragmented even to be recognized. The task to find out which of these correspond to the sound background of a specific faction and reorganize them appropriatelly, is too much indeed !

Therefore Adam_Smith couldn't have asked the question better...

Grasshoppa · June 18, 2000, 23:33

LoD.. You got it partly right. Yes, the various sound files in the Fx directory are sequenced by the game to create the music/ambientness. The part you got wrong is that the sequence does NOT depend on the file names. Most, if not all, of the file names have not changed from SMAC to SMACX. What has changed is either the executable only sequences a "general" theme or there's some special config file laying about with an obscure name containing the sequences to be used. Unfortunately, I think it's the former over the latter.. *sigh*

Adam_Smith · June 19, 2000, 00:16

Domai's music is different. There is some machine parts clanging or something. Most of them are the same though.

Grasshoppa · June 19, 2000, 03:41

Okay.. Did a little more hacking and looking around with the music. Here's the deal.. You can get your Believer music in SMACX.

Go to the Fx directory and copy/rename bset1.amb to aset1.amb.

Bingo.. That's it. Yes, it did require a single file rename. *blush* (Hats off to LoD.)

Apparently, SMACX is possibly hard-wired to play the Alien faction's music. Isn't that irritating?!?! I'm not going to try to find a wait to hack the executable or DLLs.. I'll leave that for someone more adventurous.

BTW, before I forget.. Make sure you make a backup of the Alien's music or you'll have to copy it off the CD.

Neptunus · June 19, 2000, 05:07

I'll try that right now... THANK YOU GUYS...

waynehead · June 19, 2000, 09:55

Ok, let's change the subject. This is a "coffee shop-esque" thread, right?

Here's one: has anyone ever noticed that Santiago builds more sea bases (as the AI, 'course) then anyone else?

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Neptunus · June 19, 2000, 16:59

Indeed, that was one peculiarity of the game that striked me right from the beginning of my SMACing experience. I don't even remember playing a single game with Santiago one of the AI factions, that she hadn't more than half of her bases at sea. Even in maps of less that 20% sea coverage, she builds one or two sea bases. Quite strange for a pure militarist... And the overall strategy of the AI when playing Santiago is unbalanced (from the military point of view). I mean, the Spartans are not at all strang in the air.

Its because of this, that I ALWAYS hurry for the Maritime control center. But despite that, her bases are almost UNREACHABLE unless I build up a really nasty flock of helicopters. She alone can spread havoc at sea...

Lord Maxwell · June 19, 2000, 17:56

On the topic of sea colonies I must note that Lal has a disgusting habit of always locating two cities on the sea about the location of the antipodes of his real home. (Or even better, at two totally unimportant places right in the middle of nowhere. The tactical benefits of this can only be understood by mediocre ais...)

Adam_Smith · June 19, 2000, 18:38

double post
[This message has been edited by Adam_Smith (edited June 19, 2000).]

Adam_Smith · June 19, 2000, 18:39

I did the Grasshoppa fix, and this is what happened: I get the old Believer music not only for the Believers, but for all the factions. Additionally, it is a diferent sequence that it is in SMAC. Pretty strange. It's cool though. Can anybody figure out a way to just play the Believer music with the Believers and/or make the sequence correct.

P.S. anybody doing this fix remember to back up aset1.amb and bset1.amb

Adam_Smith · June 19, 2000, 18:51

All of the correct music is playing now for me. I forgot to put the original bset1.amb file back in the folder. Now that it's in there everything seems ok for now.

Neptunus · June 19, 2000, 19:40

Well, Lal does also something which is very annoying indeed. At mid-game to late-game (assuming of course he has survived up to that time) he keeps building sea bases adjacent to land masses within the borders of the human player.

Another strange thing I've noticed is the significantly higher probability that Gaia's landing is near or within Monsoon Jungle. I don't believe that this is a coincidence any more, after counting five out of ten occurencies of Gains starting very close to the Monsoon Jungle.

Adam_Smith · June 19, 2000, 19:58

That's strange. Yang is always in the jungle in games I host. It's really wierd that way.

Grasshoppa · June 19, 2000, 20:20

Adam_Smith.. The "fix" simply replaces the Alien Faction's music with the Believer's. As far as I could tell, no matter what faction you are you get the Alien's music or a slight variation thereof. So, if one wanted Gaia's music they'd have to replace the Alien music with her set. Mind you, this is all "in theory" and I haven't messed with it enough. Why made everything easy to change in text files or using the menus in the game, but not for the music is frustrating. Like usual, audio is an afterthought in games..

As for the Spartans, they've never been a match in any of the games I played against the AI. When I first started playing SMAC, I figured they'd be one of the factions I'd be most worried about. I'm a pacifist most of the time and don't want to go to war. So, I figured they come and knock on my door and then kick the door in. Disappointedly, if they ever came and knocked on my door, it was a wussy knock.. with me just saying.. "Go away." They'd oblige or get obliterated.

They're one of the factions I thought the AI is the weakest at playing which is unfortunate. The Spartans are overall a pretty decent faction.

Adam_Smith · June 19, 2000, 22:48

Grasshoppa,

I made the changes, and I know for sure that Lal's and Miriam's music is now the same as it is in SMAC. So I like that. I don't know if the other factions music has been altered.

joer · June 20, 2000, 02:44

I never even knew that the different factions had a different music. To me, whenever I played with sound on, the music was this kind of bla background noise. Maybe I should listen closer in the future. By default, I should try the music on SMAC(no X), you say?

Anyways, in my games, the factions somewhat behave as they should: Santiago kicks ass in the early game, since she gets to non-linear mathematics fast and then leashes out with her awesome impact rovers. And she takes a very aggressive, annoying stance with those against a poor, hapless builder like me. However, since she neglects to build any infrastructure, she's usually unimportant by midgame.
Dee has a slow start, but is decent in mid-game. Her research is usually pretty good over the long run (with demo+green) and she has a good knack for getting some SPs before I do. In one of the games where I screwed around with the game file languages, she ended up in FM and got really awesome there. Good thing she can't do that in a regular game.
Yang is excellent in my games if he can expand early, or whip some other AIs around. If confined early on, he overproduces himself and ends up with masses of obsolete garrison units that just wait to be killed by choppers.
Yang in the Moonsoon jungle as neighbour is pretty evil. I remember the first game where that happened to me. Incidently also the first time where I used a PB. Anybody want to take a guess on whose head it landed?

-joer.