Borders/ecology

Binary · December 20, 2000, 23:28

Am I the only one who thinks that SMAC's system of determining the faction borders can sometimes be annoying?I usually like to have my bases spaced so that their production radii don't overlap.The problem is that the borders are always changing and the AI tends to pack it's bases together more,so sometimes it will build a colony near me and take away some of my territory.Since I don't place my bases as close to eachother,it's harder for me to hold on to my territory like that.Maybe the game should have a more permanent method of determining borders.

Also,is there a way to play the game with reduced or no planet (mindworms,ecodamage,global warming etc.) ?Possibly by editing alpha.txt?I know you can turn it off in the scenario editor,but if you do that the game counts it as cheating.

Horus · December 21, 2000, 05:45

Of course, the borders are annoying. But it's a part of the challenge, in the same way as it is annoying that enemy troops keep invading you without any warning

cbn · December 21, 2000, 12:53

What exactly about borders is a pain to you? My personal peeve is that if my long established seabase loses access to land resources just because some faction has a land base near and its "their" land. Most of the boundary effects are good, I think. If I understand right the AI (if friendly) can't just build a city in or overlapping your base radii as it seemed to like to do in CIV (IIRC). I do not understand how the boundary rules hurt you if cities are widely spaced since your boundary would be 8 squares or 1/2 the distance to the nearest opposing faction. Wide spacing grabs a lot of land.

If I see a great city city just inside an opponents boundary my approach is to found a city close to the boundary to trigger the boundary to move and then I can plant another pod on the preferred site.

This boundary feature actually seems to be a good approximation of history. Factions claim boundaries based on settlement and the areas that they are able to hold. If you do not maintain a claim (in the game by having a base in proximity) others are free to claim the area. Even a strong land based power cannot claim boundaries into the ocean areas. Consider France during the Bonaparte years when their boundaries included most of continental Europe but England ruled the seas (sort of like Sven).

Binary · December 21, 2000, 14:05

cbn-
What I find to be a pain is when the AI will build a base near me and take away from one of my bases production radius.Yes,wide spacing does grab a lot of land,but the AI can take away more territory because it packs it's bases together.

Your method of expanding your territory with one colony to get another to a preferred spot is effective,I've often done that myself.

And personally,I find seabases to be annoying,the AI (often Yang) will always cram a seabase right on my coast.Is there a way to turn the ability to build sea colony pods off?

Didymus · December 21, 2000, 14:29

quote:

Originally posted by Binary on 12-21-2000 01:05 PM
Is there a way to turn the ability to build sea colony pods off?

It was suggested to make the Pressure Dome impossible to build. Whether this worked, I dunno.

Helium Pond · December 21, 2000, 17:59

Yeah, other factions do annoying things--isn't that the point?