edits for making AI factions less agressive/beligerant at first?

[o-o]

How do you edit AC so the AI factions are less agressive/beligerant at first (or a little less for the whole game maybe)

I remember seeing a post here a while ago about a way to edit the text file(s) so the factions were less agressive at first and this caused them to end up being stronger in the late game..
but I havent been able to find the post recently

Thanks

[Googlie]

You can do it thru the scenario editor. Start a new game, then use the left hand menu tab to select "Scenario" and select "activate scenario editor" (or just use ctl + k when in-game - that activates the editor directly)

Note that this reveals the map around your starting position as well as the locations of all the AI factions - you are given a "cheat" warning before opening the scenario, though)

Now you go about 2/3rds down the menu list and select the "edit faction personality". By faction, you can then make them more or less aggressive, friendly towards you or likely to betray you, etc. (The default explore.discover etc are the game defaults for that faction, but you can also change them to make them more of a researcher/builder faction)

Now exit that and select "edit faction strategy". By faction you can set their strategy goals - land, sea or air power, build colony pods, terraformers and seabases, or probes, or missiles and arty (or all of the above)

Through the "edit faction diplomacy" you can make the factions want to talk to you, even be poacted from the game beginning, etc. A way to get a really healthy faction mid-to-late game is to preset one or two as submissives of a third - they then give all their techs etc to their master, creating a decent challenge mid game from that uber-faction (I enjoy making the Uni and the CC's slaves of the Hive - Yang becomes a super pest mid to late game)

Then you change back to "activate scenario editor (or ctl +k) and you are returned to your start position as if in a regular game

G.

[o-o]

thanks, I didnt know about that.

I dont want to have to do that every time though or have to reveal terrain or positions...

Id still like to find that other thread if you or anyone else knows where or which Im referring to

[gwillybj]

The method that involves text-file editing:

In each faction's.txt, reduce the first number after the Leader's Name and Gender by one, thus:

The Lord's Believers, The Fundamentalist, Believers, M, 2, Miriam, F, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1,

becomes:

The Lord's Believers, The Fundamentalist, Believers, M, 2, Miriam, F, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1,

For the original SMAC-7, you will change:
Believers and Hive to 0.
Peacekeepers, Spartans, and University to -1.
Gaians and Morgan will not change because they are already -1.
Be sure to keep a backup copy of the original unedited file before making any changes.

Also, when you start a new game, after Pick a Difficulty Level, the next choice is Game Rules. Choose Customize (at the bottom). In that list be sure Intense Rivalry is off. You might also choose to turn off Total War, but that will prevent Conquest Victory for you and the AI factions. I don't know if it affects their mood or aggressiveness.

IIRC, the thread that mentioned this was about the AI's lousy terraforming, the edits included giving every faction a Former, and the game would be played on an edited map that had pre-forested areas. I couldn't find the thread, so I may have messed up the changes.