Finally bought SMAC!

lord of the mark · May 5, 2003, 10:13

Well having decided that I'd completely played out Civ2 (mediocre deity player, played lots of scenarios, played both TOT alt games enough to quench curiosity) ready to return to TBS after playing SM Civil War and 1602, I went and bought SMAC for $10.

Tried just diving in playing on "librarian" level (that the king level equivalent, no?) Getting whupped, but I havent even read the manual yet, and still getting used to the interface, etc.

Not looking for hints (at least not yet) but maybe some thoughts on getting started after Civ2. Did you dive in, have you used this site for strategy, etc?

Flare · May 5, 2003, 10:20

Five words:

Probe Teams, Supply Crawlers, & Formers.

Read Vel's Strategy Guide.

lord of the mark · May 5, 2003, 11:21

Quote:

Originally posted by Flare
Five words:

Probe Teams, Supply Crawlers, & Formers.

Read Vel's Strategy Guide.

ie: spies, camels, and settlers

the crawlers seem to be available later in the tech tree than Civ2 camels, or maybe im still flustered by not being able to pick specific techs to research. So it seems theres more pressure in the early game to build a wonder (or secret project - whatever) before you get the crawlers. Also the crawlers seem to have the interesting ability to get resources from outside of cities, in lieu of the trade uses of the camels.

SMAC is interesting in that the formers and colonists are seperate like Civ3 (which i havent played) and unlike Civ2. In civ2 i could build lots of settlers at an expansionist phase of the game, have the build a road or two till i founded a city with them. If i ended up with an extra one or two could use them for terrain improvements. As i got to a perfectionist phase I would build lots to do terrain improvements, and if had too many could found an extra city with them. Seperating the functions seems to require greater care in buliding them, both early and farther along.

CEO Aaron · May 5, 2003, 11:53

Do yourself a favor, grab a tech tree and switch off blind research, you'll get a much better idea of what's going on, tech wise.

As for crawlers, while they do immitate some of the functions of caravans, they also do _much_ more. They can harvest resources directly from a tile, albeit only one resource at a time. You can also upgrade crawlers, providing you have prototyped the appropriate techs, to more efficiently convert energy credits (money) into Secret Projects.

The extra utility of crawlers certainly justifies their higher placement in the tech tree, not to mention the other advantages of Industrial Automation (Hab complexes, Wealth, etc.)

On the subject of formers vs. colony pods, I find that separating their functions actually makes using them easier. Now I only bulid a colony pod when I'm ready to expand to a new base site, and I can build formers to handle my other terraforming needs.

Alex · May 5, 2003, 14:26

Welcome to the club of those who love and worship the greatest strategy game ever made.

Method · May 5, 2003, 21:01

Quote:

Originally posted by CEO Aaron
As for crawlers, while they do immitate some of the functions of caravans, they also do _much_ more. They can harvest resources directly from a tile, albeit only one resource at a time. You can also upgrade crawlers, providing you have prototyped the appropriate techs, to more efficiently convert energy credits (money) into Secret Projects.

The extra utility of crawlers certainly justifies their higher placement in the tech tree, not to mention the other advantages of Industrial Automation (Hab complexes, Wealth, etc.)

yes. crawlers are by far the most useful tool in the game, barring formers of course. just building a few and placing them on forest tiles to harvest minerals (shields) can boost your industry a great deal, such that you can churn out early Secret Projects in a hurry.

oh yeah, and uh, what alex said

Frankychan · May 6, 2003, 07:13

Glad to see a new convert!

All I have to say is-Just play and figure things out yourself, it makes the game more fun that way. It took me a while to find out that I could raise the land to make "land-bridges" to other continents!

May I ask what faction you prefer

Join the Minions of Yang!

Hydro · May 6, 2003, 08:29

Yang? Bah~! A brilliant psychopath (of the blood-makes-grass-grow variety) - nothing more.

Frolicking with Deirdre is MUCH more fun!

lord of the mark · May 6, 2003, 09:38

Well im still
"diving in" , though ive looked around the web just a bit, and will probably start looking t the manual again.

After losing as Hive and Spartansl, im playing as University. Have also shut off blind research. (still on king - er - librarian)

Trying to expand rapidly, while putting most energy into research. Ran into Spartans nearby, swtiched research to military (and traded with Spartans for techs), got impact infantry and rovers, rolled right over Spartans. Now I have a continent to myself (after saving i resigned instead of quitting - in Civ2 that gives you powergraph - here it gave me a map replay - guess thats cheating, Huh?)

So now i will go back to expansion and peaceful development. I am worried about the mindworms, now coming in "pre-boils" since improved military tech wont help and i dont want to lose valuable but inexperienced units to them. I guess I should build barracks - oops - command centers, and use the monoliths.

Googlie · May 6, 2003, 10:14

For mindworm security, get (or trade for) the tech "Secxrets of the Human Brain". That lets you equip units with the "Trance" special ability (free for defensive units) which gives an added edge in defense against mindworms.

Its attack counterpart ("Empath Song") gives an attack bonus against mindworms, and as you get late in the game, empath choppers with anti-aircraft ability will be needed to counter the hordes of flying mindworms (Locusts of Chiron) that'll come your way

You can download an early draft of Vel's Strategy Guide from his website:

http://clik.to/renaissance

then go through discussion forums, SMAC and then Strategy & Tactics, and look for The SMAX Guide (version 3.0)

It'll have comments on the seven expansion factions as well, but lots of great stuff on the original smac seven ( with tailor-made strategies per faction)

Or you can buy it on-line at:

http://www.booksurge.com/author.php3...ntID=GRTU00118

Good luck, and welcome to the fanbase of the best strategy game ever developed

Googlie

Alinestra Covelia · May 6, 2003, 11:33

Quote:

Originally posted by Hydro
Yang? Bah~! A brilliant psychopath (of the blood-makes-grass-grow variety) - nothing more.

Frolicking with Deirdre is MUCH more fun!

Hydro, I must ask you to watch your words. The Chairman has given me express permission to initiate a fight if you continue espousing your brand of preference-dictated-by-the-female-form.

If you keep this up there's going to be a fracas. Maybe even a mud wrestle.

Hydro · May 6, 2003, 13:00

AC - I'd bet it wouldn't even come close to mud wrestling with Dee! I'd even make sure she won!

***Diiiieeeerrrdddrreeee*** (eyes roll back in head as Hydro submits to the tender mercies of Lady Skye)

{{There are advantages to being a granola-munching, tree hugging, eco weenie}}