Announcing TurboSMAC!

[DilithiumDad]

It's faster, more balanced, and probably closer to what the original programmers had in mind. All the best alpha.txt changes from numerous mods over the years combined in one product.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Download TurboSMAC.zip from this post to your game directory (which is probably C:\Program Files\Firaxis Games\Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri\)

2. Rename alpha.txt to alphaoriginal.txt. (Right click on alpha.txt and select "rename").

3. Unzip TurboSMAC.zip in the current directory.

4. Play SMAC as usual.

RESTORING NORMAL SMAC FOR PBEM OR SCENARIO CHALLENGES

Starting a game under regular SMAC and then using an altered alpha.txt like the one provided by TurboSMAC will have odd unpredictable effects. You need to restore the original alpha.txt.

1. Rename alpha.txt to alphaturbo.txt. (Right click on alpha.txt and select "rename").

2. Rename alphaoriginal.txt to alpha.txt.

[DilithiumDad]

Explanation of changes and their strategic impact

Tired of the usual SMAC routine? You know the drill
+The long slow slog to set up a small empire and do some exploring and terraforming during the first 25-40 turns.
+Pop booms and exponentially climbing might graphs.
+Grabbing all the secret projects with upgraded crawlers.
+Beelining for Air Power and MMI, then racing to conquer the world with chop & drop before anyone else gets these techs, or stomping
all over pitiful AI, which never pop booms and never uses chop & drop.
+Buying the Ascent in a single turn.

None of these "standard" events happen in turbo-SMAC!

I. Acceleration
Very little happens for the first 20 moves or so. This is fine with single player, because you can
reach 2120 in a few minutes, but in PBEM it might take two months! We need faster development.
1. Half-price colony pods
This is the biggest factor. It will accelerate development, because earlier pods mean earlier
additional bases, all of which can be making new pods.
2. Nutrient rows shortened to 6
This will speed up growth early on. To avoid excessive exponential growth from pop booming, all factions will have -1
growth until Future SOciEties are researched in the endgame. Effectively, the base length of nutrient rows will be 8.
3. Research rate increased 33%
This will speed up research throughout the game.
4. Faster terraforming
The number of turns to complete terraforming has been cut in half or less for all operations except borehole contruction
and forest seeding.
5. Industry bonus
All factions have +2 industry throughout the game. This works better than shortening mineral rows to 8.
6. More resources.
Increased beNefit of ocean squares by +1 nutrient and +1 mineral. Doubled the benefit of farms and solar collectors. Increased
value of bonus squares from 2 to 3. Elminated nutrient penalty from mine. Added sea versions of all land improvements.
Can build monoliths after Centauri Meditation. Increased minerals from cutting forest from 5 to 10. Doubled benefit from
Recycling Tanks. Additional resources from fungus have been added and come earlier.
7. Cheaper facilities
Reduced the mineral cost and/or maintenance cost of most facilities, except for Tree Farm, Hybrid Tree Farm, Fusion Lab and
Quantum Lab. Reduced cost of least popular facilities by the greatest factor.
8. Starting energy
Increased from 10 to 50, to allow SE changes from the start.

II. Counter to over-used strategies and exploits
In the midgame, some factions grow rapidly and their relative might increases exponentially. After carefully designing an
empire and building it for 100 turns or more, it can vanish in a couple of turns through cheap "chop & drop" tactics.
These changes come under the heading of slowing the "the strong get stronger and the weak get weaker" tendency of this
game which is very strong.
1. Pop booming.
Pop booming is almost entirely removed by giving all factions -1 growth until Future Society SE's are reached. The only way
to pop boom is to achieve a Golden Age with Demo/Planned/Creche, which means little booming. This prevents easy wins by the
first faction to pop boom.
2. Infinite colony spread (ICS)
The ICS problem is actually made worse by the half-price colony pods. ICS is reduced by limiting pop booming and by
eliminating the mineral income from the base square.
3. Chop and drop
a. Airdrop range reduced from 8 to 6
b. Air unit range reduced from 8 to 6 (jet) or 5 ('copter).
c. Cost of air units doubled
d. Prototyping costs doubled for air units only
e. Attack penalty after air drop increased from 50% to 66%
f. Cost of drop ability now rises with increasing weapon or speed, but not with armor.
g. Cost of nerve gas pods now rises with increasing weapon
h. AAA bonus increased from 100% to 125%
i. Decreased cost of AAA ability, but increased its cost on offensive units
j. Decreased mineral cost of Aero Complex from 80 to 30
k. SAM ability now free
l. SAM probes can bribe air units
m. Instrinsic base defense bonus and sensor defense bonus both increased from 25% to 50%.
4. Increase usefulness of seldom-used chasses & units
5. Overuse of supply crawlers
Doubled cost of these units. Does not prevent exploits involving upgrades.

III. Restore balance between offense & conquer versus defense & build
1. Boost defenses
a. Instrinsic base defense bonus and sensor defense bonus both increased from 25% to 50%.
b. Defense bonus (+12%) against fast units for unit in rough or in base.
c. non combat unit penalty dropped.
d. AAA bonus increased from 100% to 125%

IV. Enhance cool components of the game that are seldom used due to minor flaws
1. Advanced chassis
Hovertank: Now comes with Superconductor and has 4 move points
Gravship: Now come with Nanometalurgy and has 16 move points
2. Breeding native life --much cheaper, and native units given special abilities and more move points:
Worms: Cost 2 rows of minerals, rover chassis, trance and deep radar abilities
Isles: Cost 3 rows of minerals, cruiser chassis, AAA and deep radar abilities
Locusts: Cost 4 rows of minerals, still have gravship chassis, blink and deep radar abilities
3. Artillery --effect enhanced, removed excess cost for mobile artillery.
4. Transports: Transport capacity increased for land and air units and cost decreased. heavy transport ability enabled.
5. Future Societies: These came too late in the game to have an impact. Thought Control is moved two
techs earlier (to Biomachinery), and the other two future soecieties are moved to their precedessor techs
(Sentient Econmetrics for Eudomonia and Industrial Robotics for Cybernetic).
6. Elevation effects on combat: 25% bonus for attacking downhill or defending uphill.
7. Fungus resources: These pose interesting trade-offs, but came much too late to impact strategy. Now you get more resources form fungus earlier.

V. Enhance social engenerring settings that are seldom used.
1. Politics
a) Fundamentalism is crippling and seldom used.
Remedy: BOOSTED MORALE BENEFIT (dedicated beleivers), MAINTAINED GROWTH BENEFIT OF DEMOCRACY (command to be fruitful and multiply), REDUCED RESEARCH PENALTY TO ONE, ADDED TALENT PENALTY INSTEAD (elite repulsed)
b) Police State is somewhat weak except for Spartans and Hive, because additional police units are required to see any effect.
Rememdy: NOW WITH ++TALENT (elite police), A MORE ORDERLY SOCIETY IS POSSIBLE WITHOUT ADDING POLICE UNITS.
c) Democracy is unchanged. but you might want to consider alternatives!
2. Economics
NO CHANGES: FREE MARKET, PLANNED AND GREEN PERFECTLY BALANCED
3. Values
a) Power is crippling and seldom used.
Remedy: SWITCHED PENALTY FROM INDUSTRY TO RESEARCH (power over knowledge) AND PLANET (power over ecology).
b) Knowledge is good, but not usually favored over wealth
Remedy: NOW WITH +TALENT (attracts intellectual elite), +PLANET (ecological and planetary understanding).
c) Wealth is overused
Remedy: NOW SLIGHTLY LESS ATTRACTIVE WITH ECOLOGICAL PENALTY (-PLANET, wealth over conservation).
4. Future Society. These are not actually changed, but "NONE" is given ++INDUSTRY and -GROWTH.
TRICK HERE IS TO HAVE +2 INDUSTRY FOR ALL FACTIONS THROUGHOUT GAME AND PREVENT NON-GOLDEN AGE POP BOOM BEFORE FUTURE SOCIETY. ADDED +TALENT TO EACH BECAUSE ANY FUTURISTIC SOCIETY WOULD ATTRACT AN ELITE FOLLOWING.

[DilithiumDad]

LINE BY LINE CHANGES

#RULES
2, 1 ; Numerator & Denominator for artillery fire damage (was 3,4)
INCREASED EFFECTIVENESS OF ARTILLERY
6, ; Max airdrop range w/o orbital insertion (was 8)
REDUCE EASE OF "CHOP & DROP"
6, ; Nutrient cost multiplier, was 10
FASTER EARLY GROWTH
133, ; Technology discovery rate as a percentage of standard (was 100)
0, ; Nutrient effect in mine square (0 or -1), was -1 (helps AI)
100, ; Extra percentage cost of prototype LAND unit (was 50)
100, ; Extra percentage cost of prototype SEA unit (was 50)
200, ; Extra percentage cost of prototype AIR unit (was 50)
2,1, ; Psi combat offense-to-defense ratio (LAND unit defending)
NEEDED TO BALANCE DEFENSE BONUSES
3,2, ; Psi combat offense-to-defense ratio (SEA unit defending)
NEEDED TO BALANCE DEFENSE BONUSES
3,2, ; Psi combat offense-to-defense ratio (AIR unit defending)
NEEDED TO BALANCE DEFENSE BONUSES
50, ; Players' starting energy reserves (was 10)
ALLOW EARLY SE SHIFT
50, ; Combat % -> intrinsic base defense (was 25)
25, ; Combat % -> for attacking from higher elevation (was 0)
25, ; Combat penalty % -> attacking from lower elevation (was 0)
12, ; Combat % -> Defend vs. mobile in rough (was 0)
33, ; Combat % -> Infantry vs. Base (was 25)
COUNTER FOR INCREASED DEFENSE BONUSES
66, ; Combat penalty % -> attack after airdrop (was 50)
33, ; Combat % -> Fanatic attack bonus (was 25)
COUNTER FOR INCREASED DEFENSE BONUSES
25, ; Combat penalty % -> Air superiority unit vs. ground unit (was 50)
0, ; Combat penalty % -> Non-combat unit defending vs. combat unit (was 50; favors defenders)
0, ; Combat % -> Bonus vs. ships caught in port (was 100; favors defender)
125, ; Combat % -> AAA bonus vs. air units (was 100; favors defender)
50, ; Combat % -> Defend in range of friendly Sensor (was 25)
15, ; Combat % -> Psi attack bonus/penalty per +PLANET (was 10)
33, ; Retool percent penalty for production change (was 50; favors defender)
RETOOLS MOST COMMON AFTER SNEAK ATTACK, SWITCH FROM BUILD TO CONQUER
5, ; Minimum # of turns between councils (was 20)
10, ; Minerals for harvesting forest (was 5)
5, ; Turns to corner Global Energy Market (was 20)
MAKES THIS VIABLE PATH TO VICTORY!
0, ; If non-zero, humans can always contact each other in hotseat/email games (was 1)
THIS NEVER MADE SENSE!
90, ; Maximum % damage inflicted by arty versus units in base/bunker (was 50)
INCREASED EFFECT OF ARTILLERY
4, 3 ; Numerator/Denominator for frequency of global warming (1,2 would be "half" normal warming).
INCREASED RISK OF GLOBAL WARMING

#TERRAIN
Farm, None, Kelp Farm, None, 2, Cultivate $STR0, f, F
Soil Enricher, EcoEng2, Soil Enricher, Disable, 3, Construct $STR0, f, F
Mine, None, Mining Platform, None, 4, Construct $STR0, M, M
Solar Collector, None, Tidal Harness, None, 2, Construct $STR0, S, S
DRASTICALLY REDUCED TURNS TO COMPLETION OF ALL THE ABOVE TO SPEED UP GAME AND ADD INTEREST
Forest, None, Mangrove, None, 3, Plant $STR0, F, Shift+F
ONLY SLIGHTLY SPEEDED. ADDED COASTAL SEA FOREST.
Mag Tube, Magnets, Mag Tube, Disable, 3, Build $STR0, R, R
Bunker, Poly, Bunker, Poly, 2, Construct $STR0, K, K
DRASTICALLY REDUCED TURNS TO COMPLETION, NOW VIABLE. AVAILABLE MUCH EARLIER (POLYMORPHIC SOFTWARE)
Airbase, DocAir, Naval Airbase, DocAir, 4, Construct $STR0, ., .
Sensor Array, None, Buoy, None, 2, Construct $STR0, O, O
FAST COMPLETION, ADDED SEA VERSION. WITH DOUBLED EFFECT, NO EXCUSE NOT TO BUILD EVERYWHERE!
Fungus, None, Sea Fungus, None, 3, Remove $STR0, F, F
Fungus, EcoEng, Sea Fungus, EcoEng, 4, Plant $STR0, F, Ctrl+F
Condenser, EcoEng, Kelp Factory, EcoEng, 6, Construct $STR0, N, N
FAST COMPLETION, ADDED SEA VERSION
Echelon Mirror, EcoEng, Echelon Mirror, EcoEng, 8, Construct $STR0, E, Shift+E
FAST COMPLETION, ADDED SEA VERSION
Thermal Borehole, EcoEng, Sea Borehole, EcoEng, 24, Construct $STR0, B, Shift+B
ONLY OPTION NOT SPED UP, ADDED SEA VERSION
Aquifer, EcoEng, Aquifer, Disable, 6, Drill to $STR0, Q, Q
Raise Land, EnvEcon, Raise Sea Floor, EnvEcon, 8, Terraform UP, ], ]]
Lower Land, EnvEcon, Lower Sea Floor, EnvEcon, 8, Terraform DOWN, [, [[
Level Terrain, None, Level Terrain, Disable, 3, Terraform LEVEL, _, _
Monolith, CentMed, Monolith, CentMed, 8, Place Monolith, ?, ?, (this is here for map editor)
OPTION TO CREATE MONOLIGHTS AFTER CENTAURI MEDIATION

#RESOURCEINFO
Ocean Square, 2, 1, 0, 0,
ADDED NUTRIENT AND MINERAL FROM OCEAN
Base Square, 2, 0, 1, 0,
SUBTRACTED MINERAL TO REDUCE ICS FACTOR
Bonus Square, 3, 3, 3, 0, * Mineral +1 if mine present
INCREASED VALUE OF ALL BONUSES
Forest Square, 1, 2, 0, 0,
REMOVED ENERGY FROM FOREST. BUILD MORE SOLAR COLLECTORS IF YOU WANT ENERGY.
Recycling Tanks, 2, 2, 2, 0,
DOUBLED BONUS
Improved Land, 2, *, *, 0, "*" columns are ignored entirely
DOUBLED BENEFIT
Improved Sea, 3, 2, 4, 0, * Mineral +1 with Advanced Ecological Engineering
INCREASED
Monolith, 3, 3, 3, 0,
INCREASED TO MATcH BONUS
Borehole Square, 0, 6, 6, 0,
NOTE: NOT CHANGED

#WORLDBUILDER
NO CHANGES

#WORLDSIZE
NO CHANGES

#TIMECONTROLS
NO CHANGES

#TECHNOLOGY
Biogenetics, Biogen, 0, 3, 2, 2, None, None, 100100000
NOW INCREASES FUNGUS NUTRIENT
Industrial Base, Indust, 2, 1, 3, 0, None, None, 000000100
NOW INCREASES COMMERCE INCOME
Ethical Calculus, EthCalc, 0, 1, 3, 3, Psych, None, 000000100
NOW INCREASES COMMERCE INCOME
Gene Splicing, Gene, 0, 2, 4, 3, Biogen, EthCalc, 100100000
NOW INCREASES FUNGUS NUTRIENT
Environmental Economics, EnvEcon, 0, 0, 4, 3, IndEcon, EcoEng, 001000100
NOW INCREASES FUNGUS ENERGY
Ecological Engineering, EcoEng, 0, 0, 3, 4, Ecology, Gene, 010000000
NOW INCREASES FUNGUS MINERAL
Planetary Economics, PlaEcon, 0, 0, 4, 3, EnvEcon, Integ, 001000100
NOW INCREASES FUNGUS ENERGY
Threshold of Transcendence, Thresh, 0, 1, 3, 4, User0, User1, 010000000
CHANGED PREREQUISITES TO TWO NEW TECHS TO DELAY SLIGHTLY.
Advanced Creation Secrets, User0, 0, 2, 0, 0, Create, None, 001000100
NEW TECH. INCREASES FUNGUS ENERGY AND COMMERCE.
Advanced Temporal Mech, User1, 0, 2, 0, 0, TempMec, None, 110000000
NEW TECH. INCREASES FUNGUS NUTRIENT & MINERAL.


#CHASSIS
Infantry,M1, Squad,M1, Sentinels,M2, Garrison,M1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, None, Shock Troops,M2, Elite Guard,M1,
NO CHNAGE
Speeder,M1, Rover,M1, Defensive,M1, Skirmisher,M1,2, 0, 0, 0, 3, 2, Mobile, Dragon,M1, Enforcer,M1,
INCREASED ROVER TRANSPORT CAPACITY TO 3*REACTOR
Hovertank,M1, Tank,M1, Skimmer,M1, Evasive,M1, 4, 0, 0, 0, 3, 3, Super, Behemoth,M1, Guardian,M1,
INCREASED SPEED FROM 3 TO 4 WITHOUT INCREASING COST. NOW COMES MUCH EARLIER, WITH SUPERCONDUCTOR. NOW A MILITARY MAINSTAY.
Foil,M1, Skimship,M1, Hoverboat,M1, Coastal,M1, 6, 1, 0, 0, 3, 3, DocFlex, Megafoil,M1, Superfoil,M1,
INCREASED SPEED AND CARRYING CAPACITY
Cruiser,M1, Destroyer,M1, Cutter,M1, Gunboat,M1, 8, 1, 0, 0, 4, 4, DocInit, Battleship,M1, Monitor,M1,
INCREASED SPEED AND CARRYING CAPACITY, REDUCED COST
Needlejet,M1, Penetrator,M1, Interceptor,M1, Tactical,M1, 5, 2, 2, 0, 3, 16,DocAir, Thunderbolt,M1, Sovereign,M1,
REDUCED RANGE FROM 8 TO 5 AND DOUBLED COST FACTOR. INCREASED JET TRANSPORT CAPACITY. TRANSPORT JETS NOW MAJOR FACTOR.
'Copter,M1, Chopper,M1, Rotor,M1, Lifter,M1, 4, 2, 1, 0, 4, 16,MindMac, Gunship,M1, Warbird,M1,
REDUCED RANGE FROM 8 TO 4 AND DOUBLED COST FACTOR. INCREASED 'COPTER TRANSPORT CAPACITY.
Gravship,M1, Skybase,M1, Antigrav,M1, Skyfort,M1, 16, 2, 0, 0, 6, 6, NanoMin, Deathsphere,M1, Doomwall,M1,
INCREASED RANGE FROM 8 TO 16, ADDED MEGATRANSPORT CAPACITY 6*REACTOR, REDUCED COST. COMES MUCH EARLIER: NANOMINITURIZATION
Missile,M1, Missile,M1, Missile,M1, Missile,M1, 14, 2, 1, 1, 0, 10, Orbital, Missile,M1, Missile,M1,
INCREASED RANGE FROM 12 TO 14. REDUCED COST CONSISTENT WITH DISPOSIBLE NATURE.



#REACTORS
NO CHANGES

#WEAPONS
Psi Attack, Psi, -1, 2, 6, -1, CentPsi,
SELDOM USED. COST REDUCED 40% TO ENCOURAGE USE.
Planet Buster, Planet Buster, 99, 0,40, -1, Orbital,
INCREASED COST (32 TO 40) TO BALANCE REDUCED COST OF MISSILE CHASSIS.
Colony Module, Colony Pod, 0, 8, 5, -1, None, ; Noncombat packages
COST CUT IN HALF. THIS WILL HAVE HUGE EFFECT ON GAMEPLAY!
Troop Transport, Transport, 0, 7, 2, -1, DocFlex,
COST CUT IN HALF
Supply Transport, Supply, 0,10,12, -1, IndAuto,
COST DOUBLED TO REDUCE OVERUSE.
Conventional Payload, Conventional, 20, 0, 4, -1, Orbital,
INCREASED ATTACK FROM 18 TO 20 AND REDUCED COST FACTOR BY HALF. NOW TRULY USEFUL.

#DEFENSES
NO CHANGES

#ABILITIES
Amphibious Pods, 1, DocInit, Amphibious,00000101001, Attacks from ship
ADDED AMPHIBIOUS PROBE TEAMS
Drop Pods, -6, MindMac, Drop, 00000111001, Makes air drops
INCREASED COST FACTOR FOR DROP UNITS WITH HIGH ATTACK OR SPEED
Carrier Deck, 0, Metal, Carrier, 00101101010, Mobile Airbase
REDUCED COST
AAA Tracking, -1, MilAlg, AAA, 00010001011, x2 vs. air attacks
REDUCED COST FOR DEFENSIVE UNITS, INCREASED FOR OFFENSIVE
Air Superiority, 0, DocAir, SAM, 00000101111, Attacks air units
NOW FREE. SAM PROBES NOW ALLOWED.
Empath Song, 1, CentEmp, Empath, 00000001111, +50% attack vs. Psi
REDCUED COST; NOW ALLOWED FOR PSI UNITS
Polymorphic Encryption, 0, Algor, Secure, 00000111111, x2 cost to subvert
NOW FREE
High Morale, 0, Integ, Trained, 00000001111, Gains morale upgrade
NOW FREE
Heavy Artillery, -3, Poly, Artillery, 00000001001, Bombards
REMOVED ADDED COST FOR FAST ARTILLERY. PSI BOMBARDMENT NOW ALLOWED.
Blink Displacer, -6, Matter, Blink, 00000001111, Bypass base defenses
INCREASED COST FACTOR FOR BLINK UNITS WITH HIGH ATTACK OR SPEED
Hypnotic Trance, -1, Brain, Trance, 00000111111, +50% defense vs. PSI
NOW ALLOWED FOR PSI UNITS
Heavy Transport, 1, DocInit, Heavy, 00100100111, +50% transport capacity
ENABLED
Nerve Gas Pods, -2, Chemist, X, 00001001101, Can +50% offense (Atrocity)
COST NOW RISES WITH WEAPON STRENGTH; NOW ALLOWED FOR PSI UNITS
Non-Lethal Methods, 0, Integ, Police, 00000001001, x2 Police powers
NOW FREE

#MORALE
NO CHANGES

#DEFENSEMODES
NO CHANGES

#OFFENSEMODES
NO CHANGES

#UNITS
Alien Artifact, Infantry, Artifact, Scout, 12,20, 0, Disable, 2, 000001000000000000000010
DOUBLED "COST" (=MINERAL VALUE) AND ADDED TRANCE AND DEEP RADAR ABILITIES.
Mind Worms, Speeder, Psi, Psi, 1, 2, 0, CentEmp, 3, 000001000000000000000010
MIND WORMS HAVE 2 MOVE POINTS, ARE MUCH CHEAPER,ADDED TRANCE AND DEEP RADAR ABILITIES.
Isle of the Deep, Cruiser, Psi, Psi, 7, 3, 4, CentMed, -1, 000000000000000100000010
ISLES HAVE MORE MOVE POINTS, ARE MUCH CHEAPER, ADDED AAA AND DEEP RADAR ABILITIES.
Locusts of Chiron, Gravship, Psi, Psi, 4, 4, 0, CentGen, -1, 000001100000000000000000
LOCUSTS HAVE MORE MOVE POINTS, ARE MUCH CHEAPER, ADDED TRANCE AND BLINK ABILITIES.
NO CHANGE IN OTHER EXISTING UNITS. ADDED:
Cruiser Probe Ship, Cruiser, Probe Team, Scout, 11, 0, 0, DocInit, -1, 000000000000000000000010
Probe Foil, Foil, Probe Team, Scout, 11, 0, 0, DocFlex, -1, 000000000000000000000010
Air Transport, Needlejet,Transport, Plasma, 7, 3, 4, MindMac, -1, 000001000000000000000010
Drop Colony Pod, Infantry, Colony Pod, Scout, 8, 4, 0, MindMac, -1, 000001000000000000010000
Troop Transport, Speeder, Transport, Plasma, 7, 3, 3, Chemist, -1, 000001000000000000000010
Hover Transport, Hovertank,Transport, Silksteel, 7, 3, 4, Alloys, -1, 000000000000001000000010

#FACILITIES
Headquarters, 2, 0, None, Disable, Efficiency
MUCH CHEAPER TO FACILITATE RECOVERY FROM CAPTURE OF HQ
Children's Creche, 3, 1, EthCalc, Disable, Growth/Effic/Morale
PRICE FROM 5 TO 3
Recycling Tanks, 3, 0, Biogen, EcoEng2, Bonus Resources
PRICE FROM 4 TO 3
Perimeter Defense, 2, 0, DocLoy, Disable, Defense +100%
PRICE FROM 5 TO 2
Tachyon Field, 3, 2, ProbMec, Disable, All Defense +100%
PRICE FROM 12 TO 3. USUALLY RUSH-BUILT DURING ATTACK.
Recreation Commons, 3, 1, Psych, SentEco, Fewer Drones
PRICE FROM 4 TO 3
Energy Bank, 3, 0, IndEcon, QuanMac, Economy Bonus
PRICE FROM 8 TO 3, REMOVED MAINTENANCE TO INCREASE USFULNESS
Network Node, 4, 1, InfNet, HAL9000, Labs Bonus
PRICE FROM 8 TO 4
Biology Lab, 3, 0, CentEmp, Disable, Research and PSI
PRICE FROM 6 TO 3, REMOVED MAINTENANCE TO INCREASE USFULNESS
Skunkworks, 4, 1, Subat, Disable, Prototypes Free
PRICE FROM 6 TO 4
Hologram Theatre, 4, 1, PlaNets, Disable, Psych and Fewer Drones
PRICE FROM 6 TO 4, REDUCED MAINTENANCE TO REDUCE VALUE OF VIRTUAL WORLD PROJECT
Paradise Garden, 3, 0, SentEco, Disable, +2 Talents
PRICE FROM 12 TO 3, REMOVED MAINTENANCE TO INCREASE USFULNESS
Research Hospital, 6, 3, Gene, Disable, Labs and Psych Bonus
PRICE FROM 12 TO 6
Nanohospital, 12, 4, HomoSup, Disable, Labs and Psych Bonus
PRICE FROM 24 TO 12
Pressure Dome, 3, 0, DocFlex, Disable, Submersion/Resources
PRICE FROM 8 TO 3. USUALLY BUILT UNDER DURESS.
Command Center, 3, 1, Mobile, Disable, +2 Morale:Land
PRICE FROM 4 TO 3
Naval Yard, 3, 1, DocInit, Disable, +2 Morale:Sea, Sea Def +100%
PRICE FROM 8 TO 3, REDUCED MAINTENANCE TO INCREASE USFULNESS
Aerospace Complex, 4, 2, DocAir, Disable, +2 Morale:Air, Air Def +100%
PRICE FROM 8 TO 4
Bioenhancement Center, 5, 1, Neural, Disable, +2 Morale:ALL
PRICE FROM 10 TO 5, REDUCED MAINTENANCE TO INCREASE USFULNESS
Centauri Preserve, 4, 0, CentMed, Disable, Ecology Bonus
PRICE FROM 20 TO 4, REMOVED MAINTENANCE TO INCREASE USFULNESS
Temple of Planet, 4, 0, AlphCen, Disable, Ecology Bonus
PRICE FROM 20 TO 4, REMOVED MAINTENANCE TO INCREASE USFULNESS
Psi Gate, 5, 0, Matter, Disable, Teleport
PRICE FROM 10 TO 5, REMOVED MAINTENANCE TO INCREASE USFULNESS
Stockpile Energy, 0, 0, None, Disable, Minerals to Energy
The Human Genome Project, 30, 4, Biogen, Disable, +1 Talent Each Base, -1, 0, 0, 1, 1,
PRICE INCREASED 20 TO 30, MAINTENANCE COST OF 4
The Command Nexus, 40, 4, DocLoy, Disable, Command Center Each Base, 1, 2, 0,-1, 0,
PRICE INCREASED 20 TO 40, MAINTENANCE COST OF 4
The Weather Paradigm, 40, 4, Ecology, Disable, Terraform Rate +50%, 0, 0, 0, 2, 1,
PRICE INCREASED 20 TO 40, MAINTENANCE COST OF 4
The Virtual World, 40, 8, PlaNets, Disable, Network Nodes Help Drones, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0,
PRICE INCREASED 30 TO 40, MAINTENANCE COST OF 8
The Ascetic Virtues, 40, 8, PlaEcon, Disable, Pop. Limit Relaxed; +1 POLICE, 0, 0, 0, 1, 2,
PRICE INCREASED 30 TO 40, MAINTENANCE COST OF 8
The Longevity Vaccine, 40, 8, BioEng, Disable, Fewer Drones or More Profits, 0, 0, 0, 2, 1,
PRICE INCREASED 30 TO 40, MAINTENANCE COST OF 8
The Hunter-Seeker Algorithm, 60,20, Algor, Disable, Immunity to Probe Teams, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0,
PRICE INCREASED 30 TO 60, MAINTENANCE COST OF 20
The Cyborg Factory, 60, 8, MindMac, Disable, Bioenh. Center Every Base, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0,
PRICE INCREASED 40 TO 60, MAINTENANCE COST OF 8
The Network Backbone, 60, 8, DigSent, Disable, +1 Lab Per Commerce/Net Node, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0,
PRICE INCREASED 40 TO 60, MAINTENANCE COST OF 8
The Cloning Vats, 80,20, BioMac, Disable, Population Boom At All Bases, 0, 0, 0, 1, 2,
PRICE INCREASED 50 TO 90, MAINTENANCE COST OF 20
The Space Elevator, 60,20, Solids, Disable, Energy +100%/Orbital Cost Halved,0, 0, 2, 2, 0,
PRICE INCREASED 50 TO 60, MAINTENANCE COST OF 20
The Singularity Inductor, 120,20, ConSing, Disable, Quantum Converter Every Base, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0,
PRICE INCREASED 60 TO 120, MAINTENANCE COST OF 20
The Telepathic Matrix, 120,20, Eudaim, Disable, No More Drone Riots; +2 PROBE, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1,
PRICE INCREASED 60 TO 120, MAINTENANCE COST OF 20
The Voice of Planet, 180, 8, Thresh, Disable, Begins Ascent To Transcendence, 0,-2, 2, 2, 1,
PRICE INCREASED 60 TO 180, MAINTENANCE COST OF 20
The Ascent to Transcendence, 600,20, Thresh, Disable, End of Human Era, 0, 0, 2, 2, 2,
PRICE INCREASED 200 TO 600, MAINTENANCE COST OF 20

#ORDERS, #COMPASS, #PLANS, #TRIAD, #RESOURCES, #ENERGY
NO CHANGES

#CITIZENS
Transcend, Transcendi, AlphCen, Disable, 2, 2, 3, 0000000
CUT RESEARCH BONUS FROM 4 TO 3 TO SLOW FRANTIC ENDGAME.

#SOCIO
Police State, DocLoy, ++POLICE, ++SUPPORT, --EFFIC, ++TALENT
NEEDED SMALL BOOST. NOW WITH ++TALENT, A MORE ORDERLY SOCIETY IS POSSIBLE WITHOUT ADDING POLICE UNITS.
Fundamentalist, Brain, ++MORALE, ++PROBE, -RESEARCH, ++GROWTH, -TALENT
SELDOM USED. BOOSTED MORALE BENEFIT, MAINTAINED GROWTH BENEFIT OF DEMO, REDUCED RESEARCH PENALTY, REPLACED WITH TALENT PENALTY.
Power, MilAlg, ++MORALE, ++SUPPORT, --RESEARCH, -PLANET
SELDOM USED. SWITCHED PENALTY FROM INDUSTRY TO RESEARCH AND PLANET.
Knowledge, Cyber, ++RESEARCH, +EFFIC, --PROBE, +TALENT, +PLANET
NEEDED SMALL BOOST. NOW WITH +TALENT, +PLANET.
Wealth, IndAuto, +INDUSTRY, +ECONOMY, --MORALE, -PLANET
TOO HEAVILY FAVORED. NOW SLIGHTLY LESS ATTRACTIVE WITH ECOLOGICAL PENALTY.
None, None, ++INDUSTRY, -GROWTH
Cybernetic, DigSent, ++EFFIC, ++PLANET, ++RESEARCH, ---POLICE, ++INDUSTRY, +TALENT
Eudaimonic, SentEco, ++GROWTH, ++ECONOMY, ++++INDUSTRY, --MORALE, +TALENT
Thought Control, BioMac, ++POLICE, ++MORALE, ++PROBE, -SUPPORT, ++INDUSTRY, +TALENT
TRICK HERE IS TO HAVE +2 INDUSTRY FOR ALL FACTIONS THROUGHOUT GAME AND PREVENT NON-GA POP BOOM BEFORE FUTURE SOCIETY
ALL FUTURE SOCIEITIES PLACED ONE OR TWO TECHS EARLIER

[DilithiumDad]

The documentation leaves a lot to be desired. I welkcome comments, especially along the lines of "Gee I wish I had known that mind worms have a rover chassis and trace ability. I might have built some Empath Rovers before going Free Market!"

I will also add a mini-strategy guide to help players adjust, including faction-by-faction strategies. Any suggestions for the mini-strategy guide appreciated.

[DilithiumDad]

PREHISTORY OF TURBOSMAC

Modding to Favor Breeding Native Life:

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...hreadid=123749

Double fast worm mod!:

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...hreadid=124510

Modding to weaken "chop & drop" tactics:

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...hreadid=123858

TurboSMAC for PBEM! Alpha.txt mod HELP!:

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...hreadid=122950

Simple Alpha.txt changes to make SMAC more fun:

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...hreadid=120291

Gwillybj's alpha.txt changes:

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=75187

[Chaos Theory]

Any plans for TurboSMAX?

[fluxionman]

I am curious about the playtesting history for the mod - have any multiplayer games been run to completion?

[Chaos Theory]

There are actually a few glitches/inaccuracies/curiosities in the mod:

Native life, despite having trance and perhaps other abilities, is no harder to kill with a unity rover. However, they can now withdraw from scout patrols, which is quite annoying
Condensor-farm-nutrient tiles are insane, at 10 nutrients!
Curiously, monoliths break nutrient and mineral restrictions, but not energy restrictions.
Yang with Police State/Planned is very, very nice.
Contrary to what you stated, forests still yield 1-2-1

[DilithiumDad]

TurboSMAX is definitely the next step! I am studying up on the alpha.txt differences.

No multiplayer testing yet. My plan is to have a massive TurboSMAC tournament here at Apoloyton. I can CMN a huge number of games with very little effort --just start on a standard map (like my Ultimate Builder's Map) and send at MY 2101. No map editing, no acceleration, no creation of extra units --no scenario editor work at all! All the acceleration comes from alpha.txt and the map.

I'm just waiting for some feedback on single-player games before starting the tournament. Oh, and boosted AI factions will be included!

I love that worms disengage! They'll heal and come right back at you, often with a life cycle upgrade!

The reason why you can still kill worms, despite their Trance ability, is that I increased the advantage of the attacker in psi combat to 2:1 on land, and 3:2 on sea and air. I tested a lot of combinations, and this is the one that gave the best play.

[DilithiumDad]

Originally posted by Chaos Theory
There are actually a few glitches/inaccuracies/curiosities in the mod:

Native life, despite having trance and perhaps other abilities, is no harder to kill with a unity rover. However, they can now withdraw from scout patrols, which is quite annoying

This is exactly as intended!

Condensor-farm-nutrient tiles are insane, at 10 nutrients!

Yup! And quick to build, too! But you might want to keep some fungus around, because later on it gets very good. This happens sooner than in original SMAC.

Curiously, monoliths break nutrient and mineral restrictions, but not energy restrictions.

Odd, isn't it?

Yang with Police State/Planned is very, very nice.

Indeed! Maybe too nice. For the big TurboSMAC tournament, I am planning on reserving Hive, University and Believers for the AI (using boosted faction files) and having human players choose between the remaining 4. I tried playing a solo TurboSMAC game against the 3 boosted AI factions, and my first SP was the Longevity Vaccine! If it weren't for beating up on the non-boosted AI, I would have lost!

Gaians and (surprisingly) PK's are quite nice. Morgan benefits from the greater number of commerce techs (and greater commerce income) and the delay in pop booming. Spartans make tons of money killing worms, and save big on free prototypes. Plus, morale is more pivitol in TurboSMAC than in the original, which also favors Spartans.

Contrary to what you stated, forests still yield 1-2-1

I didn't change anything about either forests or boreholes, nor did I intend to. There are enough changes to dela with as it is!

[Chaos Theory]

Originally posted by Dilithium Dad:
Forest Square, 1, 2, 0, 0,
REMOVED ENERGY FROM FOREST. BUILD MORE SOLAR COLLECTORS IF YOU WANT ENERGY.

I did not see mind worms benefiting from Trance when I attacked them, even with basic odds of 2:1.

[Chaos Theory]

Looks like the Gaians harvesting fungus with the Manifold Harmonics would receive 6/6/9 from each tile of fungus. Pretty nice, even if extremely late game!

[DilithiumDad]

Thanks Chaos. I did change that line, but it had no effect. I will delete it from the documentation. It seems that forest resources are hard-coded.

Trance ability does not appear right away. New worms arising from fungal pops definitely have trance. Possibly the worms that are present when the world is spawned lack the special ability. Kill them while you are able!!

[DilithiumDad]

Fungus resources go very high in TurboSMAC, without the Manifold project. Think boreholes with 6 nutrients. I added two NEW techs before Threshold to Transcendence that add nutrient and energy from fungus. Just so the techs would do SOMETHING.

[#endgame]

This is just screaming out for ModMan!

Here's ModMan 1.06 with TurboSMAC installed and configured.

Howto:
1. Unpack the attached zip file into your SMAC directory (such that turbosmac.bat winds up in the same directory as terranx.exe).

2. Run turbosmac.bat (possibly make a shortcut to it somewhere if you really feel like it, just make sure that the shortcut is set to start in your SMAC dir.

3. Go play.

If you already have ModMan and just want the .SM file, well :P. It's 54,207 bytes (i.e. 52kb).

DilithiumDad, any plans for a SMAX version?

[Alinestra Covelia]

I've arrived very late to the SMACreation scene. What is Modman?

[#endgame]

Modswapping utility that I wrote about 1/2 a year ago and got largely ignored. Powered by good old dos batch (sadly no mac or linux version because I'm nub with respect to those OS'es).

*Points at http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...hreadid=118976*
for more info.

[Kataphraktoi]

you can edit forests output in SMAX,dunno about SMAC.i have it working perfectly,with hybrid forests+free market they only give 2 energy not 3

[DilithiumDad]

I thought ModMan was for MAKING mods, not swapping them. Live and learn, I guess. From reading the post you pointed to, I'm still not clear on what it does.

At this point, TurboSMAC comes entirely from altering a single file, alpha.txt. I think people can handle renaming a single file.

For total makeovers like Aldebaran and the StarWars mod, ModMan is a must.

[DilithiumDad]

It turns out that reducing forest energy is not ncessary, because fungus becomes a competitive alternative now after Environmental Economics, which now gives +1 energy from fungus. So I will jsut delete it from this version and form the future TurboSMAX.

[#endgame]

Originally posted by DilithiumDad
I thought ModMan was for MAKING mods, not swapping them. Live and learn, I guess. From reading the post you pointed to, I'm still not clear on what it does.

At this point, TurboSMAC comes entirely from altering a single file, alpha.txt. I think people can handle renaming a single file.

For total makeovers like Aldebaran and the StarWars mod, ModMan is a must.

Er.. ModMan stands for "Mod Manager" so anything that swaps something, even a single .txt is a valid target.

The referred thread is mainly bug reporting and where I post new versions. Put simply, ModMan is a mod swapper to prevent all the 'by hand' changes usually required.

[Straybow]

Hmmm, never thought of allowing forest in sea before...

[DilithiumDad]

Others have done it --have named it "mangrove" --there are trees that grow in briny estuaries on earth.

[#endgame]

The other option would be to make kelp do something more than food, as it's currently just an expanding farm.

[Quezacotl06]

I find halving mineral and food and techcosts makes the earlygame non-existent. Not too big an issue, imo

[DilithiumDad]

A balance of small boosts are better than halving everything. A modest cut to mineral costs (-20%), a larger cut in nutrients for growth (-30%), a boost in tech speed (+33%) combined with increased resources from farms, solar collectors, recycling tanks and bonus squares speeds things up nicely. Another important factor is half-price colony pods and transports. Also, formers automatically come on a rover chassis with synthmetal armor at no extra cost. This really speeds up early terraforming and formers can also serve as an additional mobile defense early on.

The mod is designed for PBEM, to speed up e-mail games without a lot of tinkering by the game host.

[eisdead]

Alright I've play around with this for a while, here is my current feedback:

Overall, change the NONE future sociality to +2 industry, -1 growth, -1 moral

Fundamentalism seems overpowered. I like the additional MORALE s and dampening of the RESEARCH penalty in exchange for less TALENTS, but the +2 to GROWTH pushes it way over the top. I'd consider dropping it all together or dropping it down to just +1 GROWTH. That way democracy still remains semi-unique

Drop the –PLANET from Power. --RESEARCH is enough for this one.

Knowledge also seems a bit to giving. I'd drop the + PLANET. The +2 RESEARCH in your new system is already profound Perhaps just make it +3 RESEARCH and drop the extra TALENTS.

I found myself using a new type of tactic in TurboSMAC, mainly what I call the Super Hovertank Push. The idea is that using the newly enhanced resources of this mod, I go IotD huting while building a fleet of 8/3 hovertanks, grab the command center and xenoempathy dome. Then just drop the Hovertanks in the fungus and its game over for the most part. Usually everything is elite by this time, (fundamentalism/green/knowledge)

But yeah, this mod is extremely fun

[DilithiumDad]

Originally posted by eisdead
Alright I've play around with this for a while, here is my current feedback:

Overall, change the NONE future sociality to +2 industry, -1 growth, -1 morale

Interesting idea! I guess that morale has become too high with the ++MORALE with Fundamentalism, and with Power being more viable? Another idea would be scale back Fundamentalism's morale benefit to the original +MORALE.

Fundamentalism seems overpowered. I like the additional MORALE s and dampening of the RESEARCH penalty in exchange for less TALENTS, but the +2 to GROWTH pushes it way over the top. I'd consider dropping it all together or dropping it down to just +1 GROWTH. That way democracy still remains semi-unique

Fundamentalism seemed overpowered to me, too, but when I actually used it as an SE setting it didn't convey an overwhelming advantage. It does help the AI Miriam quite a bit, though. From what you are saying, Fundamentalism may still be popular with only +1 bonus to morale. I want to keep the ++GROWTH because Fundamentalism and Democracy should be equal for population growth. Note that you need a Golden Age for pop booming on Fundy/Planned or Demo/Planned but with the -TALENT penalty it will be tough to get a Golden Age under Fundy. So it balances.

Drop the –PLANET from Power. --RESEARCH is enough for this one.

Surprised to hear this. Most people would find --RESEARCH to be much less of a penalty than --INDUSTRY (ironically making military units unaffordable!). Thus, I added another minor penalty, -PLANET. This is much less severe than the Free Market penalty! I think Power is quite viable as it is.

Knowledge also seems a bit to giving. I'd drop the + PLANET. The +2 RESEARCH in your new system is already profound Perhaps just make it +3 RESEARCH and drop the extra TALENTS.

The ++RESEARCH is from the original. Perhaps it could be scaled back to +RESEARCH. Most people stuck with Wealth unless at war, remember. In TruboSMAC, Power will be the wartime value. Knowledge should be peacetime value, not Wealth. The +PLANET is important because you need anotheer path to positive PLANET rating before Cybernetic comes along, with the new emphasis on psi combat.

I found myself using a new type of tactic in TurboSMAC, mainly what I call the Super Hovertank Push. The idea is that using the newly enhanced resources of this mod, I go IotD huting while building a fleet of 8/3 hovertanks, grab the command center and xenoempathy dome. Then just drop the Hovertanks in the fungus and its game over for the most part. Usually everything is elite by this time, (fundamentalism/green/knowledge)

I use lots of hovertanks when I play TurboSMAC! Forget rovers! Xenoempathy Dome is very powerful in this mod. I expect to see a lot of competition to build it first in TurboSMAC PBEM. But still, a hovertank rush is far less manic than a chop & drop romp & stomp.

But yeah, this mod is extremely fun

Great feedback!! Be sure to sign up for the TurboSMAC PBEM Tournament, coming soon!

[scanner_red]

Sounds great. I am going to try it. What about using it in SMAX? Will that work?
Great idea.

[DilithiumDad]

TurboSMAX is definitely the next step! I am studying up on the alpha.txt differences. First I want to start the TurboSMAC tournament.