Alpha Centauri: War for Planet

[SolkaTruesilver]

Hi there. Just wanted to share my toughts about one of the greatest game of it's time: Alpha Centauri.


Personnally, I always went for The Human Hive. The ideology was just too "me" to say no about it. Except once, when I played the Spartians.. oh, that game was fun too..

One of the funniest game I had, I managed to get as less water as possible on the planet (I think no erosion, etc...), and I started near a HUGE landmass. When I started meeting peoples, I already had 4 time more population than most of them. I could elect myself Planetary Governor, since I had so much population...

Off course, those pesky mindworms and fungus kept cropping at the 4 corners of my Population Network... (which is good, since I pay the bills with the energy fallout). But my troops were simply restless..

THE feature I loved the most was Vassalitude. It was a kinda-hidden feature, but I felt the gameplay it involved was superb. In short, when you had beaten somebody (really beaten. They have to grovel for your mercy), you can accept their surrender, and they swear a pact of brotherhood..

And then, everytime you ASK them anything, they simply do it for you. No questions asked, just a beau-ti-ful "As-You-Wish".

So.. I made a lot of fun conquering my neighbours, turning them into vassals, and giving them back all of their cities (except those tacticly well-located). Off course, I would "forget" some of my troops in their city, just to make them remember who's boss...

[Om]

You know a game is good when you are playing a later game and wishing for those old feature. SMAC had what is easily the best diplomacy system outside of a Paradox game.

[SolkaTruesilver]

Oh, I almost forgot to mention the Blind Research option. Which, I think, made for quite fun games! It added a random factor that, I think, make it for more realism...

and if you toggled non-tech trade... haha... now you were in for a ride!

[Driderman]

Without a doubt, one of the best games ever. I still install it from time to time to play it through.

I'm surprised you haven't mentioned customizable units though. It was great fun to tinker in your workshop, making armoured air-drop terraformers and whatnot.

[SolkaTruesilver]

Sure, customization was great. But if you forget the special abilities, Galactic Civilization 2 has put customization of ships to the Nth degree.

But I agree, it was really funny at the time. And it was great to build specialized unit. I always became a powerhouse during the mid-game, when I got the hand on Aviation..

My whole army consisted of:

- Infantry, who defended cities (and policed them... :smallcool: )
- Rovers (later, tanks) with no armor, all attack. Mainly to capture terresterial objective.
- 75% Bombardment aircraft, 25% Interceptors.

I always used the MAXIMUM move on the bomber aircraft available, scouting ennemy territory and checking where all their troops were located, then I went for Targets of Opportunity.. until my rovers were ready to simply walk in a Danger-free region, seizing all the cities...

DAMN! I just realized it's Israel's tactic!!!

ah... those were the days... What were your favorite super-abilities?

[Premier]

ah... those were the days... What were your favorite super-abilities?

I like to crank up my Ecology rating relatively high (easy, since I usually play University, Gaians or - when using Crossfire factions - Caretakers), while working hard to get all psi-bonus techs and secret projects. Once some of my cities start becoming large and polluting enough (despite high Econ rating) to attract mindworm attacks, I can capture a lot of them with units sallying out of cities right after Mindworm alerts as well as cheap roving units. Then once I have a fair number of Mindworms, I just ship them over to an enemy's continent.

[Abardam]

That one, that allowed you to control mindworms. I had like an army of demon boils at one point.

@^: Huh. Simu on same topic.

Hunter-killer's pretty good, too, I guess. Unless you're not the one who has it.

I remember once I had a planetbuster (or whatever you call the big missile thing) and I accidentally had it attack an enemy unit. Which was in my base. Creating a crater. That took out three of my cities. Yeah, that was pretty stupid.

[Indon]

Mmm, Alpha Centauri... My favorite features of the game were actually the terraforming (No, good Sir, this is a _coastal_ square now), and the technology with the completely custom units (I generally became a military power around the time I discovered clean fusion engines).

I also liked how there's more of an endgame to it than civ, with a much increased space presence.

I kinda cheated, though. I always made boreholes right outside my city and gathered resources from them (because for some reason, drilling holes into Planet just doesn't make Planet angry unless you did it in your city limits). But I guess that was generally in character, as I generally played University.

[NEO|Phyte]

I generally would go for whichever faction has the best Green rating, but I recently learned of the <3 of the Nautilus Pirates as a faction. If you set automatic colony pods, you grow fast. Then you get yourself Clean Reactors and get a handful of your hundreds of aquatic cities pumping out 1-turn gravships, and just swarm the everloving hell out of your foes. If they pull a planet buster, sure you may lose a handful of cities, but you can put them right back up.

[Captain van der Decken]

Oh man, I haven't played this in a while. Now I've gotta reinstall and play it again.

I vaguely remember being Peacekeepers or something like that, and declaring war on pretty much everybody. And betraying allies who kept demanding things from me.

[ilovefire]

Bya ll that is holy, this is possibly the best game ever.

Nothing says "I Win" Quite like Drop Clean Singularity Hovertanks with the best armour possible. Since I usually both played University AND spread like a virus, I got all the secret projects done before anyone else (with the exception fo the Merchant Exchange, for some reason.). Then I just pour credits into making armies.

Supplement your Tanks with Worms for goodness.

[Dant]

Ah, good times. I always played them Spartan fellows. I was never much for being subtle. Drop troops and Planet Busters solve all problems.

And just because it'd be a shame not too...

SPAAAARTAAA!!!

[Saint George]

I always felt bad in this game because I always slaughtered the UN colony first. Being the hippie team lets you get mind worms early which lets you just waltz over any real resistance. The only thing that annoyed me was that I always won the exact turn I disovered how to make long range missles. Psh.

[Logic]

The only factions I have not played the game through as are Sister Miraim's Believers, and CEO Morgan's corporation. Neither seemed all that apealing to me.

I prefer the University and the Free Drones. Nautilus and Spartans are a close second.

[Serenity]

Yeah, there's absolutely no reason to play the Believers. -2 Research and they don't even start researching at all for several turns? No thank you.

I had a lot of fun with Crossfire's Create-a-Faction feature. Wish Meier would come out with a Civ 4 style update of AC.

[J_Muller]

I continue to lament the fact that I don't own this game.

[lumberofdabeast]

Yeah, there's absolutely no reason to play the Believers. -2 Research and they don't even start researching at all for several turns? No thank you.

I had a lot of fun with Crossfire's Create-a-Faction feature. Wish Meier would come out with a Civ 4 style update of AC.

Have you looked into Galactic Civilizations 2 (http://www.galciv2.com)? It's an excellent game, and you can make your own species. Active modding community, and all that. My only complaint is that it's square-based instead of hex-based.

Well, and some of the graphics don't work right. But that's a problem with my comp, not the game.

[potatocubed]

Yeah, there's absolutely no reason to play the Believers. -2 Research and they don't even start researching at all for several turns? No thank you.

I've got to say, the Believers were always utterly pwned in every single game I played since they a) insisted on declaring war on everyone and b) had ludicrously under-teched units. I usually beat them into submission then 'vassaled' them for everything they had.

My favourite faction? The Morganites. I only managed to make enough money to buy the world once, but it was a very satisfying feeling. :smallsmile:

[Archonic Energy]

i was a Hive / Pirate player...

si seems to me that the pirates get alot of breaks which make the game easier. especially on the huge map of planet, have you SEEN how much sea there is ?!?

"I vote to raise the sea level"

[Om]

Yeah, there's absolutely no reason to play the Believers. -2 Research and they don't even start researching at all for several turns? No thank you.Which is why you don't rely on research as the Believers. You use either your probe or attack bonus to take it from others.

[Indon]

Which is why you don't rely on research as the Believers. You use either your probe or attack bonus to take it from others.

Yeah. Believers are the probe team (Like University has Research, Morganites have energy, Gaians have, uh, pretty trees). The AI usually loses at them because they don't use probe teams enough and they get too aggressive with conventional military (which isn't very good because they haven't been using probe teams).

Edit: That's what makes the University their natural enemies, too; they get a negative to probes which makes them even easier to steal from.

[LiteYear]

IIRC, the Believers didn't get a faction bonus to probe teams, as much as they need them to win. I believe the Hive did.

[elliott20]

I have yet to win the game with the believer's myself. Thus far though, I've played through the game with every other side.

the UN Peacekeepers are... okay. They only do well when you actually start leveraging your possible position as the planetary counsel head to your advantage.

Morganites are fun. But you really have to keep your economy strong if you wish to keep up with everyone else. Trying to outsource your military and research can be expensive after a while.

University is probably one of my favorite. I've always favored a lean army over just a bloated one. (Which the Spartans and Hives have a real tendency for)

Green is not bad. With enough umph, mindworms are AWESOME.

[J_Muller]

Hmm... I just checked Amazon.com as far as buying a copy of this.

Alpha Centauri, brand new: $5.50.
Alien Crossfire Expansion Pack: $89.95

:smallconfused: Was the expansion really that much better? I never played it...

[Douglas]

I think that's due more to scarcity than quality.

[Aidan305]

University FTW.

They're the only faction I ever beat the game with on Transcend. Partly because I was able to avoid fights all the time and when global planet-buster war broke out I remained neutral.

I also like attaching drop pods to colony pods.

[Indon]

IIRC, the Believers didn't get a faction bonus to probe teams, as much as they need them to win. I believe the Hive did.

I do believe it was the social parameters which would give you that kind of bonus.

I don't recall the actual bonuses and penalties behind the believers' favored social options, though. Too much University... I'm pretty sure one of the benefits was +probe, though.

[Driderman]

I always despised the Believer faction, due to things best not discussed on these forums...
But the first time and only time I ever played them I got the best score I ever got in Alpha Centauri. How? Simple:
The attack bonus the Believers have is a big asset for early conquest, if you know what you're doing. Crank out some settler pods and build some bases, make sure you have a pumped-up military production while still settling new bases and sic your military units on the closest, weakest enemy with the fewest allies. Crush them underfoot, conquer their territory completely and settle any newly acquired vacant areas.
This should put you in a decent lead, so get a (somewhat) trustworthy ally or two and find a new target. Rinse, repeat.
With the right infrastructure and social engineering model research won't be a problem since you should have a whole lot of bases and your population should be booming. Also, your innate resistance to probing makes it less likely that enemy factions will steal your tech. And if you're worried, there's always the Hunter-Seeker Secret Project you get from Advanced Military Algorithms I think. You'll want to focus on military research anyway.

In short: You'll want to stock up on weapons, go forth and multiply and do some good old-fashioned crusading :smallbiggrin:

Edit: I believe the Believers faction bonuses were +2 probe, -2 research and +25% attack bonus

[elliott20]

it's a pretty sad commentary on religion as a whole, if you think about it.

[Driderman]

it's a pretty sad commentary on religion as a whole, if you think about it.

Forum rules say that we aren't :smallyuk:

But for the record, I'm pretty sure it's a statement about fanatic religion. Important difference

[elliott20]

oops, sorry. my bad.

anyway, I haven't got around to trying believer's as of yet. But I think it would be a fun experiment. I'm pretty sure it would turn into a military campaign though, as believers just don't have enough social bonuses in other areas to actually allow them to keep up with the other factions.

[Captain van der Decken]

I'm remembering more and more of this now.

I never really did much diplomacy. I'm one aggressive, treacherous bastard in these type of games. And I never did try the Believers. I may do just that, could be fun.

[elliott20]

the thing iwth believers is that you don't really have an easy solid ally. The Hive defers on their stance on religion, the Economists are money grubbing bastarsd to you, the University are amoral mad scientists, the greens are pagan worshipping heathans, and the peacekeepers are too obsessed about being politically correct to be moral, leaving only the Spartan as lukewarm ally due to their obvious militaristic leanings.

[Moechi_Vill]

*censored* and although I favoured the greenies I have to say the most fun I ever had with AC was wiping out everyone else with the tremendously badass attack bonuses... mostly because the friend who invited me to his house to play the game never let me learn the rules, it was the only chance I had and the Believers fit me perfectly. (Also, 'New Jerusalem'? *censored*.) Anyway, how are they worse then any of the other factions? Half of them are crazy and the rest are lame, and by that I only mean the UN *cough*NATO*cough*Interestingly I didn't Genocide anyone with 'The Believers' but I really pulled the plug out with the broken badass Nerve Gas Canisters when I played the enviromentalist... and I'd go the hardest for the Believers and the *censored*.

Only thing that ruins civAC is the frekkin' 'Planetmind', I'm all for enviromentalism but the New Age groove gets right out of control. What's with the omiescent nirvana end? I had a decent difficulty level on my first go and practically the whole planet was covered in terraformers (ok, all my vital area, but that was because it had gotten too boring (read: irl timeconsuming) to expand further). I didn't experience any of this wild fungi and I really think I should have been given an oppertunity to build a project to kill the planetmind within a specific set of turn. It kind of fit for Deidre though... the story. So the story sucks, but the roleplay and interface and all that jazz was just beautifoul. It's a perfect gem of a game and it writes itself so beautifully in one's imagination.

Dig the industrials too.
The Hive... hated enemies of mine but favorites of most and I respect them from a military point of view and in some other ways.
The Spartans are groovy too but a good killer-strategy would probably go for something more specific then them.

I believe storywise the Hive would probably emerge dominant due to the natural cohesion of the other forces since such a story would necessitate early survival of all factions and would play into the hand of rpg characteristics.

But as mentioned earlier about the Believers, I did only finish a full game with the Gaians. I love the Believers a lot and have played AC a decent number of times with that faction, most of my experience in fact, against two different human players and some computer opponents... I've always won the game or come to dominate it in quick order. ;D
The Belivers OWN the Planet... it's what they're designed for! :) Sure, you can slow down after your invincible Barbarian hordes are repelled on a front, IF they are repelled - but a Believer has no choice to believe that he or she can control Planet. *shrug* it worked out for me... my friend's brother came in that one time and saw my list of 'VENDETTA' on everyone else since I had just fallen out with the Gaians... my small army of rovers and patrolmen were scourging Centauri of cities... he made some dismissive remark. He was supposed to be an expert. Ahh... thank you Civ1 and Civ2. When he did join one time he soon quit after I made treaties and followed up with attacks on everything that moved. And I love my friend for being so very, very, extremely naive for a while. *sigh* OK, so my opponents were schmucks but it was fun. ^_^
The point is... a Believer must Believe in his or her ability to conquer when possible and accept reality AFTER exploiting military possibilities. And don't attack the Hive unless they leave their base open (the PC did that to me once, that was weird. And fun!) Noone is going to come bearing gifts, as pointed out earlier. ... sigh... wiping our yer friend's base twice in a row...

'tis true what has been said. Ye gotta respect the Spartans to have a solid ally. The Hive is... like... they just don't make friends. The UN... bah, cross those prosperous sissies once and they hate you forever. As for the University: I don't understand. That factions was made for other militaries to plunder their knowledge (and cities)... I gotz to make up for deficit in knowledge, usually by spoils of war, else it is much harder. The Gaians do continously whine about nature and the Industrials are moneygrubbing materialists. *sigh* But I find Deidre and Santiago to be reasonable and Zakharov to be a pushover, so it's all good.

My friend told me it was 50% for attacking a city with Believers. I never took the time to find out. Either way, if you're doing well in early mid-game then couple it with nerve-gas canisters and spray and pray, it'll win the game for sure if you've got the edge by then. Careful with use on cities though, makes it hard to capture Forward Operating Bases. The perfect thing as Santiago agrees on is to put n.g. canisters on the apex of power (Fliers), there you've got awesome power at little cost but sanctions (no big deal if you've got the edge... probably not a big deal even if you're not... you're the Believers. Only the Hive is more hated.). Flexibility, Speed, Initiative... the First Apex of Power pluss a SOLID 50% AUGMENTING the cool 25%!!! It's so invincible, I love it. Best thing is croakin' field units with it. Try attacking any unit with a basic attack plane with +25%, +50% pluss the experience you very quickly rack up.

good times

Meh, I don't think The Believers represent me at all. ^_^ But it's not like they're 'bad guys of the Planet'.

BADGUYS
------------
Hive - worst
Morgans - second worst

ANNOYING GOOD GUYS
--------------
Peacekeepers - How can someone be such a good influence yet so beg for neutron bombs even if and when they're helpless?

AMORAL NEUTRAL GUYS
-----------------------
University - This might work well for humanity if it doesn't go boom.
Spartans - This should work well to expand humanity into the stars.

CRAZY GOOD GUYS
-------------------
Deidre - Well, she has a good report with Planet.

It's hard to place Miriam. She's in her own moral and religious world with her faction except they're still sane unlike the Hive. Meh, people have always been religious. To me, she just represents another faction. I only like them because they're a lot like some people on Earth and have great, game-shattering bonuses if you can overcome the various and plentifold deficits.

[elliott20]

well, what I said about each was not my personal opinion of each faction, but rather I think it's what the Believers would say about each faction.

I don't like the Spartans for the very reason that they're just... too easy to play. Them and the hive are probably the easiest factions to play. This is not to say that a person playing them cannot be skilled or that the factions can't be play skillfully. It's just that, they're pretty straight forward. Sort of like, the Ryu or Ken of AC. (Oh my god, did I just say that outloud)

as far as the university goes, they have the advantage of technology, which, if applied correctly, means you'll have superior infrastructure, and more advance units sooner than everybody else. However, this also means you have to be just good at managing everything else because you're base advantage is also your greatest weakness. The university, as such, is the quintessential "ally" faction, much like the industrialists. They NEED the support of other factions until they've built up enough steam to stand on their own.

[Moechi_Vill]

ye did :)
The Spartans are just too weak. They need to use the respect.

Oh and 'following up with attacking everything that moved' included attacking the cities I had just exchanged technologies with. You really need to find ways to pimp technology as believers. It's a bigger problem then the lack of friends from pursuing your style of civilization/life.

Whenever you get someone on their knees ALWAYS remember to trade techs, not for your own techs, and ALWAYS get the digital comlink wonder. It cures so many ailments for an unpopular civ to have monopoly on comms... it amplifies trading techs, with trading other techs.

[Driderman]

I'd say the University or The Gaians are probably the most powerful factions in the game. Why?

Because:

University's main drawback (-2 to probe) can be removed with the Hunter/Seeker secret project, leaving them with +2 research which is VERY nice and no real drawback ( They gain extra drones I think, due to unethical research methods, but that can easily be remedied by building base structures you'd build anyway).

As for the Gaians, well, it's my conviction that they're the 'true' faction so to speak. The story fits their faction the best and their ecology bonus makes it possible for them to acquire a large and dangerous army with relative ease, all the while they still have resources to expand and terraform.

Note: I haven't played Alien Crossfire much, but my personal favourite was definitely The Cybernetic Consciousness. Good faction bonuses and immunity to drawbacks of Cybernetic social engineering model? Thumbs up!

Moechi: I'm a bit confused as to what roleplaying elements you are talking about...

[Archonic Energy]

Please don't go...
The Drones need you...
they look up to you.

any game that throws a guilt trip on you for quitting is cool in my book!

[Moechi_Vill]

Please don't leave. The drones need you. They look up to you. yeah that's awesome
RPG elements as in the varying characterics of factions that lead to diplomatic encounters of a predictable kind. Normally I'd agree about Gaians being powerful but only if they're alone on the planet with the Morgans. They really need to leverage their advantage or they become a punching bag or even more just get sidelined most of the time.
University...? *stunned*
I've seen the Gaians dominating freuqently before world wars erupt and they lose ground due to lack of friends (generally) who really give a dang about them, sure I agree they might be the most powerful if played right in a more flexible yet still narrow way then the Believers but I've never seen a game where the university is not mauled and shaeared to pieces.

Come to think of it that might be my 'fault'.

Truth be told though, to be honest I gotta admit I see The Gaians up high first, then a wave of University, then UN and then Hive with Spartans and Believers lagging behind Morgans who almost always do decently. The Believers are weak unless you know what you're doing and if you know how your enemies will react to ongoing belligerance. The Spartans are survivors but they don't prosper. The Hive usually becomes dominant within a sphere of the world and the rest jostle for early supremacy, but I've experienced that somewhere along the road two of three (University, Gaians and UN) are toppled off the hill (usually the University, but not the UN) to end up in a mid-to-late game against a close to equally dominant Hive and one more mid-powerful faction (Spartans or Believers) with the Morgans left as as a true medium nation unless the Gaians came to power and the rest are somewhat marginalized with varying degrees of influence (if rallied to an alliance) and ability to pull together, but mostly just how able they are to resist a belligerant conquerer. (Peacekeeper players might not seem like it, but they always*coughusually*cough want to bash up on Believers out of personal taste... and they always make up 'unifying the world' statements on par with the Believers faith that they own planet)

That's just my personal experience though.

Anyone else experience anything different?

Ahh... it's a badass game. So hostile (that might just be my experience, but has anyone experienced a peaceful and friendly AC game with all factions for the full length?).

I've heard of games though, a lot, where all the Civs are present at the end and there's a lot of fighting, but mostly over stopping other projects. That's gotta be fun. :)

[Om]

Personally I'd view the Peacekeepers as the easiest faction. You get a huge diplomatic advantage and the abundance of talents means that controlling your population is easy. All this with no obvious disadvantages. After the University they are the best research faction.

The Morganites I hate. Specifically I hate the fact that their bases cannot expand beyond size 4 with the aqueduct (or whatever its called) improvement. The Gaians are a good mid-late game faction but their military penalty will cripple them if they encounter the Spartans or Believers shortly after planetfall.


IIRC, the Believers didn't get a faction bonus to probe teams, as much as they need them to win. I believe the Hive did.They get a basic +2 to probes (I think) which, with further social engineering, makes them invulnerable to probe teams pretty early on. IIRC the same stat also gives them a bonus to their own probe teams.


the thing iwth believers is that you don't really have an easy solid ally. The Hive defers on their stance on religion, the Economists are money grubbing bastarsd to you, the University are amoral mad scientists, the greens are pagan worshipping heathans, and the peacekeepers are too obsessed about being politically correct to be moral, leaving only the Spartan as lukewarm ally due to their obvious militaristic leanings.Pffft. We're not talking about the Peacekeepers here. As the Believers you should be embarking on a crusade to crush the infidels, not ally with them. Its a very different campaign than most factions.

[Indon]

The Morganites I hate. Specifically I hate the fact that their bases cannot expand beyond size 4 with the aqueduct (or whatever its called) improvement. The Gaians are a good mid-late game faction but their military penalty will cripple them if they encounter the Spartans or Believers shortly after planetfall.


Well, the Morganites aren't about expanding their cities; they're about expanding their coffers.

And if that doesn't make them cool enough for you, you just need to realize that Scrooge McDuck would have been a Morganite. And he'd have swum in giant vats of energy, too.

[elliott20]

Pffft. We're not talking about the Peacekeepers here. As the Believers you should be embarking on a crusade to crush the infidels, not ally with them. Its a very different campaign than most factions.
Truer words have never been said about the Believers.

The peacekeepers, in my experience, has consistently been the first faction to take a beating and ultimately killed off in every game I played.

Factions without default military strength advantage need to work extra hard to maintain and utilize whatever advantage they might have. That is the case for the Morganites, the Gaians, the Unis, and the Peacekeepers.

All of these factions do not receive any bonuses on their military front, meaning to protect themselves they have to learn to play a good all round game first to shore up their ability to defend themselves.

[Driderman]

Moechi: I'm not sure I'd call those elements roleplaying elements, but I get your point. Still, in strategy games it's usually called 'The Diplomacy Part' or something like that. Otherwise Civilization would qualify as a roleplaying game, perhaps even more so than a game like World of Warcraft :smallcool:
If you're surprised I think University is one of the most powerful factions, try playing a game with them. They suck when played by the computer AI, unless you're playing on Transcendent level (or whatever the toughest difficulty is called) but in the hands of a cunning human player the University rocks. Of course, it's pretty much a matter of taste, in the hands of a cunning player any faction rocks

[Om]

Factions without default military strength advantage need to work extra hard to maintain and utilize whatever advantage they might have. That is the case for the Morganites, the Gaians, the Unis, and the Peacekeepers.Indeed. Just to note that the Gaians actually start off with a significant penalty to their military.

[Ethdred]

You swine! I had just broken my addiction to this wonderful game and now you all go on reminding me about it!

This is one of the best games ever. Though it seems there is an expansion set I am unaware of - the one I've got doesn't have Pirates, for example. (Though, to judge from the prices quoted in the thread, I probably won't be expanding my collection)

I really like the Spartans, and the Gaians - I agree with the idea someone mentioned that they seem to be the 'proper' faction to play. But Civ has always had a big environmental twist to it (how many other games have global warming as a factor?). The Gaians were actually the first faction I ever played, and I still enjoy them - the mindworm advantage really does help. I've never been able to get to grips with the Morgans - maybe I'm playing them on too high a level. I don't like the flavour of the Hive or the Believers, so don't bother with them - though they always end up being my main enemies in the game. For some reason I always seem to end up with the Hive being my nearest neighbours.

As with the other Civ games, I can never get the hang of the diplomacy angle - everyone just seems to hate me all the time. And I hate planet busters - just so annoying. The AI seems to always know which city has the bulk of your army in it - and they tend to pick on cities that contain Wonders, which ain't cool. Someone said that the AI never uses probe teams properly, but I always get probed to death - Hunter/Seeker is my main aim Wonder, just because it stops the annoyance factor. Maybe I should play the Believers, as they are immune to probe teams.

The custom units thing is great, though I never thought of making drop colony pods! And being able to raise and lower the land is one of my favourite things. In fact, I recently went back to Civ2 and was most disappointed when I remembered I couldn't improve my city terrain by adding bits of land to it. Actually, I was generally annoyed/bored by the return to the earth bound civ, as it seems all my favourite aspects were added for AC (even stuff like being able to set go to orders for any spot on the map).

And the story is really good - I still get totally into it when I'm playing. I liked the little touches like renaming a city in memory of the dead mind worm pilot, and the quotes from the faction leaders.

In summary, great game - thanks for bringing it up, and I'm glad to see there are others out there who like it.

[Archonic Energy]

This is one of the best games ever. Though it seems there is an expansion set I am unaware of - the one I've got doesn't have Pirates, for example. (Though, to judge from the prices quoted in the thread, I probably won't be expanding my collection)


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_Meier%27s_Alien_Crossfire

enjoy...

*waves disk at screen*

[LordVader]

The expansion isn't cheap, but it owns. The Nautilis Pirates start on water. Also, I used to hate the Believers, because they were so aggressive and irrational. When I first made a Planet Buster, and had no idea of the effects, I decided to try it out on the Believers. Suffice to say, the following events made me go:smalleek:, then :smallconfused:, then :smallamused: , then :belkar:

[Serenity]

In a non-expansion pack game, the University is about the only way to get the Secrets of the Human Brain technology first and the free tech that comes with that prestige.

Gaian mind worm army FTW.

Morganites...bah. Free Market is easily the worst social engineering choice you've got.

The Peacekeepers are breathtakingly mediocre.

Human Hive...lots of fun, especially some of the Chairman's quotes. It actually took me a while to figure out they were Chinese communists not proto-Borg. :smallredface:

[LordVader]

I still can't understand why anyone would ever choose Free Market. It's likesuicide.

[Douglas]

Because it gives +1 energy per square for your entire civilization? Yes, the penalty sucks for supporting troops in wartime, but that is a HUGE economic boost. You will out-research anyone who isn't using it including the University and still easily make enough money to pay the fee for switching away when you need to take the offensive. IMO, the primary benefit of the Morganites is that they can achieve this exact bonus early in the game without the penalties by taking Wealth instead. The extra for economy ratings above +2 is nothing compared to the jump from +1 to +2, so I'd actually recommend avoiding free market a lot of the time when playing as Morgan.

[LordVader]

Unfortunately, -3 Planet tends to anger the mind worms.

[Indon]

Unfortunately, -3 Planet tends to anger the mind worms.

Which, in fact, equates to boatloads more energy courtesy of killing Mind Worms.

[Douglas]

This is a problem? :smallconfused: You'll be rolling in so much money you can afford to rush build more than enough troops to deal with mind worms if you have to, and every time you kill another mind worm you get even more money.

[Archonic Energy]

that's how i "baught" Planet.

[LiteYear]

I was wrong about the Believers. I looked it up, and they do get a faction +1 probe bonus.

[Om]

Unfortunately, -3 Planet tends to anger the mind worms.I love shafting Planet. Destroy, destroy, destroy the pink fungus!

[Ethdred]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_Meier%27s_Alien_Crossfire

enjoy...

*waves disk at screen*

Thanks for that - now I want the game even more! I noticed that they said there was an EA collection that included the expansion - just found it for sale on Amazon, used, for $750!!!!

Surely this is ripe for a gold edition re-release!

[Moechi_Vill]

Moechi: I'm not sure I'd call those elements roleplaying elements, but I get your point. Still, in strategy games it's usually called 'The Diplomacy Part' or something like that. Otherwise Civilization would qualify as a roleplaying game, perhaps even more so than a game like World of Warcraft :smallcool:
If you're surprised I think University is one of the most powerful factions, try playing a game with them. They suck when played by the computer AI, unless you're playing on Transcendent level (or whatever the toughest difficulty is called) but in the hands of a cunning human player the University rocks. Of course, it's pretty much a matter of taste, in the hands of a cunning player any faction rocks

Okay :)
I guess the University is very strong if you manage to defend yourself. I'll try when I get my hands on an old copy again. :D

- re: In my experience The Hive is the most powerful, but I've never played them except once, just to see how perimeters would be like. I think the Peacekeepers are good all-rounders though. They play it well too.

The Hive are Chinese Communists? I spotted it straight away, but there are definitely some Borgish qualities there of taking it very, very far.

Who's afraid of mindworms except on the higher levels? They give you money, entertainment, army experience and sometimes troops! Terra/-AQUAformers to the DOMINATION!

Mhmmm... I didn't know the Morgans were that good. I just don't see them winning many wars in my games.

I think the game should be 'essentially' decided by any good players before nukes come around really, but they're always good fun to punish whomever you dislike. So, anyone with examples of late games that are also legit powergame strategies?

[SolkaTruesilver]

Hmmm..

played on the Map of planet... just installed, started a game, and played it for the last 4 hours... pleasant..

The Hive was sourrounded by the Believers to the north, the Spartians to the south, and the Peacekeepers even more south. I took the regular Map of Planet, and my starting location was somewhat east of the Jungle, barely west of Suna Mensa (something like it..)

It didn't took long for me to be sourrounded.. I decided to pick on the most annoying player of the game: Miriam. She was more advanced technologically than me (this Innefiency malus is bad for research...) on weapons, but I just had a too huge industrial capacity. For every 1 Impact rover she destroyed, 2 were taking it's place. She felled...

Now, I will be able to turn my attention to the south. Santiago, twice pact sister, twice broken on a whim (she really has her humour...).

And off course, Lal is not happy with my Police state... damn him...

[Driderman]

Two words: Drop Pods.
There's your late game. Tactical insertions pretty much wherever you want.

And if you want Borg, try the Cybernetic Consciousness from the expansion

Edit: It's Sunny Mesa.... You know, as in a mesa where the sun shines a lot... :smallcool:

[Om]

The Hive are Chinese Communists? I spotted it straight away, but there are definitely some Borgish qualities there of taking it very, very far.Not Communist per se, although that's almost certainly Yang's background, but very much into social experiments and collectivization.

[SolkaTruesilver]

If I had to put a name on it. It would be Fascism, but without the jews. (AH! NO! *shoot Godwin's Law*)

I mean, the whole idea of the Hive is that the collectivity primes on the individuals, and everybody is just the part of the whole. Everybody has to sacrifice for the whole, and your rights are secondary to this objective. (That's how I understood it)

Which means it's a noble ideology, but it's implimentation will always be cruel. ex: Police State, Though Control (however, in 1984, were the people sad about their state, or they just didn't realized the misery they were in, being happy?)

Communism is just an economic theory. Don't forget, we are dealing with Ideologies...

(oh, and about my game.. I progressed, and kicked Miriam's ass very, very far. Her only remaining base is on water. However, I got backstabbed. To anybody who wants to begin playing AC: Treachery has a name, and it's Santiago.

Four time she broke a True to sneak-attack me (on the 2nd time, I was quite ready. I just wanted to play nice)

But now, she is my puppet :smallbiggrin: !!!

[Serenity]

Yeah, it's a funny thing...a communist dictatorship is just about indistinguishable from a fascist one...

[SolkaTruesilver]

when you think about it. They are both dictatorship, and that's all that really matters..

Dictatorship is a mean to impose such political/economical ideologies. But a democratic fascist governement, or a democratic communism system would work very well. But our ideology is rather defined by Liberalism (Morgan won), and the importante of individuals

Edit: Capitalist dictatorships also exists, when you think of it. I think Pinochet allowed the pillaging of Chilia's natural ressources by foreign multinationals

[Ethdred]

Yeah, it's a funny thing...a communist dictatorship is just about indistinguishable from a fascist one...


We could get into quite a long and involved political discussion here, but that would be threadjacking so I won't. Keeping it in game and on topic, I always thought Yang was more fascist, but I suppose it's a combination of the two. The strong military is much more fascist but the desire for a collectised utopia is communist - he does seem to think his ideas are best for everyone, rather than playing the usual fascist 'them and us' trick.

Damn, I'd just finished a game as Morgans (actually managing to win, though only on Librarian) and now I come back onto this thread and I want to go back and play as the Hive!!

[Indon]

Yeah, it's a funny thing...a communist dictatorship is just about indistinguishable from a fascist one...

In SMAC, the two concepts are quite distinct. Communism would be represented with the 'planned' economy, which competes with Free Market (Which the Morganites favor) and Green (favored by the Gaians). Meanwhile, Police State represents fascism and is opposed by democracy (favored by the Peacekeepers) and... I think fundamentalism (Believers, obviously)?

If I recall, Hive AI favors planned economy, while the Spartans favor Police State. I might be wrong, though.

Edit: Actually, I just checked the faction files, I'm wrong. Hive favors Police State and is forbidden Democracy, while the Spartans favor Power and are forbidden Wealth. I suspect the Spartans end up fighting so many people because Wealth and Knowledge are just so much better than Power...

[Om]

I can't think of any fascist comments from Yang off-hand. Xenophobia, the master-slave dialectic, corporatisation and nationalism all seem to be missing. Then again the Hive ideology is a mish-mash of totalitarian and Chinese ideals all stirred up with European socialist philosophy. Certainly the whole "social experiment", ie the idea that society is going somewhere, belongs to the latter.


Yeah, it's a funny thing...a communist dictatorship is just about indistinguishable from a fascist one...Ouch. Without going into it in detail, which I can't here, let me just say that you are 100% wrong on this one.

[Miklus]

Thanks for that - now I want the game even more! I noticed that they said there was an EA collection that included the expansion - just found it for sale on Amazon, used, for $750!!!!


WHAT??? I bought the expansion for about $10 back in its time. But it never worked! There is an error on the CD and the store refused to take it back because it was "on sale". I boycott that store to this day.

I am tempted to sell the original...but no. It is the best game of all time.

I remember I got into a nuclear war one time. I lost som 175 pop in one turn :smallfrown: and the resulting pollution made sea levels rise 2000m in ten years :smalleek: Then 40 worms ate the survivors. I won, though. I had a few small cities on a mountaintop. All the other fractions drowned. :smallwink: I had maybe 10-15 pop left out of a peak pop of about 500.

[Dant]

Ah, nukes are fun. I was so disappointed when I played Civ3 and realized that nukes didn't destroy things the way they did in AC.

As for the Spartans being militaristic, aggressive and backstabbing... Well duh. They're Spartans. It's what they do. It's not like using brute force is supposed to be subtle.

[Flak_Razorwill]

I got it just 2 weeks after it came out. I used a coworker's store discount as well. :)

Anyways, my most memorable part of the game were the quotes. So DAMN many. Like, hundreds. From philosophy to history to just plain funny, this game was smart. My favorite:


We are all aware that the senses can be deceived, the eyes fooled. But how can we be sure our senses are not being deceived at any particular time, or even all the time? Might I just be a brain in a tank somewhere, tricked all my life into believing in the events of this world by some insane computer? And does my life gain or lose meaning based on my reaction to such solipsism?

-- Project PYRRHO, Specimen 46, Vat 7
Activity Recorded M.Y. 2302.22467
TERMINATION OF SPECIMEN ADVISED

[Ethdred]

In SMAC, the two concepts are quite distinct. Communism would be represented with the 'planned' economy, which competes with Free Market (Which the Morganites favor) and Green (favored by the Gaians). Meanwhile, Police State represents fascism and is opposed by democracy (favored by the Peacekeepers) and... I think fundamentalism (Believers, obviously)?

I think you're being a bit too mechanistic here in trying to map each government to a certain ideology. Anyway, in history, Fascist states also favour planned economies, and communist states are definitely police states. In fact, police states pre-date both fascism and communism (though the previous examples never refined the techniques as well) - it's just a desire by the government to control the citizens. Unfortunately, a lot of loose-minded people these days tend to call any (perceived) move towards a police state 'fascist' - it really is one of the most mis-used terms in politics.

[Indon]

I think you're being a bit too mechanistic here in trying to map each government to a certain ideology. Anyway, in history, Fascist states also favour planned economies, and communist states are definitely police states. In fact, police states pre-date both fascism and communism (though the previous examples never refined the techniques as well) - it's just a desire by the government to control the citizens. Unfortunately, a lot of loose-minded people these days tend to call any (perceived) move towards a police state 'fascist' - it really is one of the most mis-used terms in politics.

Well, that's how the game's built (the original, anyway); each faction favors one specific civic and is barred from one other specific civic.

And the only reason your argument works is that other people call democratic government and planned economies 'socialist' (which, I do believe, is what communists generally called themselves) instead of 'communist'.

And yes, fascism co-opted the police state. The movement, back when it was a movement and not just an epithet, defended the concept of Big Government as being good for people, and the police states and refinements to the police state that the movement brought seems to me a natural result of that.

But, that does highlight the dynamic nature of the civic system; You want a democratic socialistic, militaristic utopia? Democracy/Planned/Power/Eudaimonia. You want a hive of mind-controlled tree-hugging, fascist scientists? Police State/Green/Knowledge/Thought Control. I think the dynamic nature of many parts of the game (this, unit production, terraforming, etc) are what make the game rock so hard.

[SolkaTruesilver]

And the only reason your argument works is that other people call democratic government and planned economies 'socialist' (which, I do believe, is what communists generally called themselves) instead of 'communist'.




QF false. Communism imply that no one should earn more than another, since the proletaria is as much important to society than doctors.

Socialism simply imply a redistribution of wealth. Quebec is a Socio-Democracy. Same for Denmark

[Om]

1) You are both discussing RL politics (not a good idea around here)

2) You are both wrong

[Indon]

QF false. Communism imply that no one should earn more than another, since the proletaria is as much important to society than doctors.

Socialism simply imply a redistribution of wealth. Quebec is a Socio-Democracy. Same for Denmark

If your point is that communism is a school of thought and not a form of government, then that would just make 'communistic government' an informal term for 'government with planned/centralized economy', which is socialism.

Yes, there is a great variety of socialistic governments, just as there is a great variety of governments in free markets, and one could even argue it's more of a continuum than anything else. But my point is, communism is distinct from fascism in the SMAC civic system.

Edit: And Om, your first point is a fair one. Your second one, however, is equivalent to trying to restart a brush fire after trying to smother it; if you want to stop an argument, you don't say 'you shouldn't be arguing this, but you're wrong', now do you?

[SolkaTruesilver]

1) You are both discussing RL politics (not a good idea around here)

2) You are both wrong

In another game, I would have agreed with you...

but isn't the whole point of AC, the whole story about "Which driving ideology is the best for humanity?". Now, nationality isn't a relevent factor anymore in AC. They pit pure ideology against one another, and may the best one for humanity win.

Now, the question isn't about which is the most moral, but which is the best. The one humanity would drive the longer, higher and better.

(in 1984, I don't think humanity will ever destroy itself.. Everything is too much controlled)

[Archonic Energy]

*grumble* thanks guys you've Made me re-install it. *grumble*

Blue Pirate needs sleep. Badly

[Captain van der Decken]

I just re-installed it, too.

I just spent ~4 hours, playing as the Spartans. I just built as many colonies as I could. That's my usual playstyle for Civ type games, anyway. At the very beginning, I was on the same continent as the Believers. I defeated them with a couple 'a rovers. It was the very beginning of the game, I suppose. Had them sign the slave/pact thingy. I then made treaties with the other factions, when I found them.

The whole game went fairly well from there, since all the other factions declared war on each other and left me to expand. Alot.

[Ryshan Ynrith]

Thanks, guys. Now I have to put all my CDs back after rooting through them to reinstall. :smallcool:

Anyway, been playing through the expansion (with all factions possibly included) as the Nautilus Pirates. The ability to have completely uncontested territory for a very long time is rather potent, and I've just gotten to the end of the tech tree. Clean String Disrupter Fuelcell Penetrators for all my foes!

[Archonic Energy]

Thanks, guys. Now I have to put all my CDs back after rooting through them to reinstall. :smallcool:

Anyway, been playing through the expansion (with all factions possibly included) as the Nautilus Pirates. The ability to have completely uncontested territory for a very long time is rather potent, and I've just gotten to the end of the tech tree. Clean String Disrupter Fuelcell Penetrators for all my foes!

i prefer "Clean Trained Graviton Deathspheres"


mmmm tostie.

[Ryshan Ynrith]

i prefer "Clean Trained Graviton Deathspheres"


mmmm tostie.

Eh, the Needlejet has a ton more range, and if you have a few jump-capable troops, capturing the base is a breeze.

Also, string disrupter=win. 30 offense? Yes please.

[Archonic Energy]

Eh, the Needlejet has a ton more range, and if you have a few jump-capable troops, capturing the base is a breeze.

Also, string disrupter=win. 30 offense? Yes please.

anything over 20 is just plain overkill! i'm cheaper and have infinite range, & can take Bases... i think... give me till tomorow i'll have them by then!

though i find 30 Planet buster nukes launched simutainisuly at the same time wiping out all the factions... THAT'S how to win a game...

that was fun too. Pact Brothers turning against you only to be obliterated...
i'll have to do that again...

[Ryshan Ynrith]

Actually, the cost of gravships is considerably greater than that of needlejets.

However, I yield to your wisdom. Worldwide Singularity Planet Buster War is the true answer to pesky opposition. :smallamused:

[Archonic Energy]

However, I yield to your wisdom. Worldwide Singularity Planet Buster War is the true answer to pesky opposition. :smallamused:

the prolem was setting it up. sometimes the AI players Delcared war on me just for having 1 Nuke... ( well that and being caught sending 3 boatloads of nukes to stratgic locations) i swear i must have re-loaded about 30 times to get the "Perfect" endgame situation

but it was truly worth it! i think the only 2 places above sea level was Mount Planet & The Ruins

[Indon]

Personally, I'm a fan of morale-upgraded clean psi units... at least, when using compatible civic options. Attackers have an innate advantage in psi. :smallbiggrin:

[elliott20]

While needlejets have fantastic attack values and all, nothing works better than a helicopter. I mean, one of those babies can attack as many times in a row as it has movements. You want to talk about broken? Just build one of those things with massive strength with one rover for capturing, and use the helicopter to knock out ALL of the opposition in one round, then waltz in with your single rover.

[Captain van der Decken]

Space Elevator secret project is great. Mass produce drop pod troops and you can crush anyone, one base at a time. And being able to drop colony pods where ever you want is nice.

Locusts of Chiron are good, too. Handy if you use a large airforce to attack.


Nuking everyone sounds fun. I may try that.

[Ethdred]

While needlejets have fantastic attack values and all, nothing works better than a helicopter. I mean, one of those babies can attack as many times in a row as it has movements. You want to talk about broken? Just build one of those things with massive strength with one rover for capturing, and use the helicopter to knock out ALL of the opposition in one round, then waltz in with your single rover.


Assuming, of course, that he doesn't have an Airport, AAA troops and a sensor in the area :) Then your copter tends to run out of health pretty quick.

Still, they are good fun if you catch the right stack.

[elliott20]

well, yeah, just like any other type of warfare, you need good intel if you don't want to waste your troops. I mean, if your foe has an AAA, airport, AND sensor, a single needlejet is probably not going to cut it anyway.

btw, does anybody know how the combat algorithm works?

I mean, does your units defense defines it's entire performance or does their weapon system still have an effect when your units on the defensive?

basically what I'm asking is, is a 1-12-1 troop as good defender than a 12-12-1? (Not counting pre-emptive strikes)

[Captain van der Decken]

No, it's just defence, I think. So 12-12-1 is the better defender.

And, realistically, unless you have very high attack, or are fighting pretty poor defenders, a helicopter is gonna be destroyed before it can use all its move attacking.

[Om]

Anyways I reinstalled and remembered two things about this great game:

1) Everybody hates the Spartans. Really, they hate your guts.

2) A University-Believer alliance is both unholy and terrifying. Imagine Believer armies equipped with the latest weaponry and armour...

[elliott20]

Anyways I reinstalled and remembered two things about this great game:

1) Everybody hates the Spartans. Really, they hate your guts.

2) A University-Believer alliance is both unholy and terrifying. Imagine Believer armies equipped with the latest weaponry and armour...

1. well, not many people get along that well with war mongering neighbors that destablize your local regions.

2. then I guess it's a good thing it doesn't happen very often.

[Forevergrey]

1. well, not many people get along that well with war mongering neighbors that destablize your local regions.


I never got on with the Daughters of Gaia either.

Go Spartans!
http://www.firaxis.com/smac/images/Santiago/SANTIAGOCOLOR.jpg

[Om]

1. well, not many people get along that well with war mongering neighbors that destablize your local regions.Pffft they should welcome my benevolent (well, not so benevolent ) overlordship. Not DoW my distant empire when the Believers are about to wipe them out.

Seriously though I just remembered a major pain - corruption increasing with number of cities and distance. Essentially this means that by the time you've conquered a distant faction or two, half your cities are essentially doing little but increasing the general unrest.

[Ethdred]

Seriously though I just remembered a major pain - corruption increasing with number of cities and distance. Essentially this means that by the time you've conquered a distant faction or two, half your cities are essentially doing little but increasing the general unrest.

Yeah, that's a real pain - corruption seems more of a factor in AC than standard Civ, probably because you don't have the Democracy get out. You need to wait for a future society to escape, and even then it isn't perfect.

[Driderman]

Hmm... Civic unrest was never a major problem for me. Even on next highest difficulty, on a huge map where my base covered about half the map it didn't bother me much. Yes of course there were cities that had unrest from time to time, but for the most part my followers were content.
Can't really remember what techniques I used for that though, was some years ago

[Archonic Energy]

Hmm... Civic unrest was never a major problem for me. Even on next highest difficulty, on a huge map where my base covered about half the map it didn't bother me much. Yes of course there were cities that had unrest from time to time, but for the most part my followers were content.
Can't really remember what techniques I used for that though, was some years ago

Nerve Staples.

punishment dome.

genejack factory.

a heavy handed police presence.

the Human Genome Project

the Telepathic Matrix.

[Ethdred]

Yeah, the genejack factory is always a good way to stop unrest :)

I have never used a punishment dome or nerve stapling - just lots of police and city buildings mainly. But I was more bothered by the corruption meaning that your cities don't produce any money/science. Most annoying, especially when you see that some other civ is getting loads of commerce out of your city, and all yours is lost.

[Archonic Energy]

Yeah, the genejack factory is always a good way to stop unrest :)


Shhhh. i want someone to try it !

:smallwink:

[Indon]

Nerve Staples.

punishment dome.

genejack factory.

a heavy handed police presence.

the Human Genome Project

the Telepathic Matrix.

-Being the peacekeepers

-NOT being university (I can't imagine why drones would dislike us so! :smallfrown: )

[Captain van der Decken]

-Getting so many talent-making-people(what are they called again?) the drones just starve to death.

Well, that's what I usually end up doing.

As the Spartans, I generally got along fine with most people. Until I made enough unreasonable demands that they'd betray me.

[elliott20]

another possibility is to create structures that increase your psych enough to do away with drones. Or, employee more effective policing units.

[LiteYear]

Alpha Centauri also had "War Weariness" (as it's called today), where the longer you are at war, the more drones appear in your cities.

[Ryshan Ynrith]

Specialists, I think they're called. And if drones are REALLY a problem, lose a little cash and dump 10-20% of your energy into Psych. Almost always mops up the problem in cities big enough to warrant drone problems.

And yeah, the genejack factory is AWESOME for drone problems. :smallwink:

[Ethdred]

Alpha Centauri also had "War Weariness" (as it's called today), where the longer you are at war, the more drones appear in your cities.

I never noticed that - but then I tend to be at war all the time

[LiteYear]

I might be confusing it for concepts that make it seem like it's there, because I couldn't find a mention of it in the help files (which I probably should check next time before the fact).

[Ethdred]

I might be confusing it for concepts that make it seem like it's there, because I couldn't find a mention of it in the help files (which I probably should check next time before the fact).

Maybe you're just too successful in the war - as you take more cities (over a limit) a random drone will appear somewhere else for each one (at least I think it's random where it appears)

[Om]

Maybe you're just too successful in the war - as you take more cities (over a limit) a random drone will appear somewhere else for each one (at least I think it's random where it appears)AFAIK a drone appears in all your cities when you go over the limit. Which produces the ridiculous situation where every new base starts off with a drone.

[Ethdred]

AFAIK a drone appears in all your cities when you go over the limit. Which produces the ridiculous situation where every new base starts off with a drone.

You're right - thanks. Not sure why I forgot, since what annoys me about that is that the Genome Project doesn't turn it happy, or even neutral, like it should

[Om]

To go back to an early topic in this thread, my recent Believer campaign has produced an interesting way to stay ahead in the tech race - vassals.

I was lucky enough to start off next to the Gaians (random map) and, after building up my colonies and army, my invasion was swift. The hippies stood no chance and within a few turns I had occupied most of their cities. When Deirdre finally surrendered to me I accepted and promptly turned over all my captured cities to her (except Gaia's Landing). In return I got all her techs.

Now I got doubly lucky because the Gaians were just about to launch a major colonisation drive into a mostly unexplored continent that they had all to themselves. So now my Gaian puppets are the second most powerful faction with a huge empire... and every so often Deirdre calls to give me a new tech :smallcool:

[Ethdred]

To go back to an early topic in this thread, my recent Believer campaign has produced an interesting way to stay ahead in the tech race - vassals.

I was lucky enough to start off next to the Gaians (random map) and, after building up my colonies and army, my invasion was swift. The hippies stood no chance and within a few turns I had occupied most of their cities. When Deirdre finally surrendered to me I accepted and promptly turned over all my captured cities to her (except Gaia's Landing). In return I got all her techs.

Now I got doubly lucky because the Gaians were just about to launch a major colonisation drive into a mostly unexplored continent that they had all to themselves. So now my Gaian puppets are the second most powerful faction with a huge empire... and every so often Deirdre calls to give me a new tech :smallcool:

Shock, horror! You wait for her to call? Why aren't you phoning her up every 10 years threatening to crush her like a bug?

[Belteshazzar]

Oddly enough I always considered playing Believers (yes we do get ninja with suitcases) and allying or subjecting both the University and the hippies to work really well. However If the Belivers don't manage to take the game early on then the lag behind really badly. My favorite tactic at that point was to find some obscure out of the way mountain or island and become a tech pirate. After you manage to steal enough tech trade it to the weaker factions such as the Hive or Peacekeepers for a good deal.

[SolkaTruesilver]

Hmm.. I just though. I think the Alpha Centauri: The Movie would be a hit...

or the teleserie. Teleserie would be even better, since we would have the chance to see a lot more.. Like 7 episodes of 2 hours each.. Each one from the eye of one faction..

Which actor would you see in each of the main roles?

[Talya]

Sure, customization was great. But if you forget the special abilities, Galactic Civilization 2 has put customization of ships to the Nth degree.

GalCiv2's customization was utterly wasted. MoO2 had more ship customization, but actually let you use it by giving control of combat. If you're going to detail that much customization of units, you're best to grant direct control over the battles to players.

[Saithis Bladewing]

I just picked up this game for the first time in a couple years last week.

First thing I remembered: University is incredibly overpowered against AIs.

Second thing I remembered: Believers always try to kill you. ALWAYS.

Third thing I remembered: You can expand onto the sea as well, awesome.

Fourth thing I remembered: It's easy to win if you conquer the Believers in the beginning of the game with your new Missile Rovers when they're struggling to get out their first impact troops. See point one again.

[LordVader]

I play Alien Crossfire and Pirates now, but yes, the Believers always attack you. They annoyed my cousin and I to no end. So naturally, when my cousin and I built our very first Planet Buster ever and didn't know what it did, guess who we "tested" it on? :smalltongue:
That's right, Miriam and her pain-in the rear Believers! We were very satisfied by the results.:smallbiggrin:

[SolkaTruesilver]

My first planetary buster weapons were used against Miriam too. But after killing her, only Dierdre was standing between me and Supreme Leadership.

Which was pretty ironic. Dierdre didn't quit insulting me about using these PBW, and was fighting to preserve Planet against my actions. It's HER actions that actually provoked the biggest crater to ever cover the face of planet. Oh my, I'm happy I am not Ender, or I'll sure be burning in hell..


Anyway... 6 cities razed with 1 PBW.. that was sweet..

Hey. Have you noticed how the AI build ultra-concentrated cities in the superfood area? I think they would be better off having a few huge and profitable cities, rather than 10 cramped ones...

What's ur opinion about it?

[LordVader]

It's a good idea to spread them out, so they don't steal resources from one another. Also, like you said, once the opposition gets Planet Busters, you're going to regret doing that.