How many folks still playing?

[muskelmichi]

High People!

I'm new to this Forum (not to some of your great advices or vel's guide) and a HUGE Smac/x fan. I've been playing for years now, with a few breaks between but continuing. I'm just wondering how many people still enjoy/play it. Are most of them CivIIIers now? (A game I actually don't like but still can't say why exactly)
Or are we still a great communty (quantitatively)?
I never played Online-MP (in fact, I still haven't got Internet! I'm posting from a University's PC right now!) and only very few hotseat. Can someone tell me whether you're still finding out more about this game or is most (or ALL) of the game mechanics already written here?

Answers?

[binTravkin]

Are most of them CivIIIers now? (A game I actually don't like but still can't say why exactly)

That's the reason why most of us better play SMAC/X not Civ.

We still form a community of around 200 people, not all active and playing but showing up from time to time.

Count of regular PBEMers is ~20-30

[Alex]

I'm still playing SMAC too. How could I not play the best TBS of all time?

During these last few years, I've had to reformat my HD or change it a number of times, and the first game I always - always - reinstall is SMAC.

[Pythagoras]

I play both Civ3 and SMAC/X. I find them very different games that are not along the same development line. (One is BR's take on a 'Civ 3', on is Meier's) I love both games for different reasons. I felt Civ 3 got back to basics, while SMAC/X took BR's gameplay influence to its most developed point.

[Chaos Theory]

We're still finding new things about SMAC/X, though only slowly now. It wasn't too long ago that one of us figured out how to predict which techs would be offered to research next. We still haven't completely figured out how combat works.

[laurentius]

After installing several new(to me)patches I've been able to get SMAX work again

So, yeah, playing and playing and playing

[sevencubed]

i've been playing the game since it was released ('98 or was it '99 ??..). It still keeps me interested

[LoriTX]

I still play SMAX almost daily!!!

My Husband plays Civ III all the time. And I mean from the time he gets up on the weekends to the time he goes to bed and as soon as he gets home from work!! Thats why our computers are in the livingroom!!

Once in a while we will play a MP game of SMAX or Civ III. Our own rules - the two of us against all the other computer players. I usually will win SMAX and he wins Civ III.

Lori

[Darsnan]

Originally posted by muskelmichi
I'm just wondering how many people still enjoy/play it. Are most of them CivIIIers now?

Never played Civ3. Not really interested, either...
SMAC(X) is the only game I play!

Originally posted by muskelmichi

Can someone tell me whether you're still finding out more about this game or is most (or ALL) of the game mechanics already written here?

Even CMN's are still finding things out about the game......


D

[Googlie]

I can echo Darsnan's comments.

I'm in the AC Democracy Game - (Now ACDGIII) - what a great idea that was when it started, as we're all learning from each other, even us "vets" who've been around since the old OWO forum days. I'm finding things out almost every turn that I hadn't known before - and I've been playing smac since we hacked the demo version in 1998 with HEXeditor to get the # demo turns up from 100 to 400!!

G.

[girlfight_club]

I've been playing SMAC since last century.

Though sometimes I fall through a Dimensional Gate--



--and try other stuff, like Victoria.

 

 

But I always fall back.

[Petek]

Have been playing SMAC/SMAX since 1999. Still play several times a week. Am constantly getting new ideas for ways to make the game more interesting by reading this forum.

[#endgame]

I sit in on the ACDG and write silly batch files. But I still think of myself as a 'player'.

[Dis]

I play occasionally. I started a game the other day, but quit early when the spartans attacked me when I had my forces concentrated on another area of my empire. I lost a couple cities early in the game. So I gave up . I'm out of practice. I've forgotten how aggressive the spartans can be. I thought it'd be easier to maintain peace with them in the early game.

But I do admit I play more civ3 than smac now days.

[Lord Nword]

I've been playing for a long time as well... first played it at my friend's house, and eventually bought it off of him

The absolute best $10 I ever spent

[Major Guz]

I also play AC for a very long time (right after it came out, I guess).

I did play CivIII, but IMHO it is just no match for AC.

[laurentius]

I'm gonna play it right now!

For hours man!

[Kirov]

Originally posted by Chaos Theory
We're still finding new things about SMAC/X, though only slowly now. It wasn't too long ago that one of us figured out how to predict which techs would be offered to research next. We still haven't completely figured out how combat works.

Whoa, can you give a link to that thread? Sth's wrong with the search engine, as it doesn't return even the most obvious keywords...

[livid imp]

Originally posted by muskelmichi
High People!

I see high people!
Welcome high muskelmichi!

Originally posted by muskelmichi
I've been playing for years now, with a few breaks between but continuing. I'm just wondering how many people still enjoy/play it.

That would be me too. Bought it the day it came out pushed it to its then limits. Then I got sucked up into a vortex called EQ and disappear from the Earth for a few years. Came back to SMAC to find the fertile minds here had pushed SMAC to previously unknown glory. The game was reborn for me and I am back to being a full blown SMAC addict.

Originally posted by muskelmichi
Are most of them CivIIIers now? (A game I actually don't like but still can't say why exactly)

Gah! I should hope not! I bought Civ3 only to be bored stiff. They took out spys they dumbed the game down the "improved" AI was as stupid as ever
The only things I liked about Civ3 was the cultural victory and resources (both of which, I understand most Civ3 players hate).

Originally posted by muskelmichi
Or are we still a great communty (quantitatively)?

I am sure the folks here are sick of hearing me say this, but SMAC players are the elite of video game players. I am serious about this. I have yet to find brighter, more creative gamers than the people in this forum. Ok, ok, maybe online Chess players are too, but they don't know how to party.

Originally posted by muskelmichi
I never played Online-MP

Believe it or not, I still enjoy SMACing the AI around and have yet to play a multi-player game.

[laurentius]

I can only agree on every point in your post Livid Imp. Especially about civ3.

Neither have I had a single MP-session, I've tried tho, but there has always been some problems...

[Pythagoras]

Originally posted by laurentius
I can only agree on every point in your post Livid Imp. Especially about civ3.

Neither have I had a single MP-session, I've tried tho, but there has always been some problems...

I've found the Civ3 AI to be more challenging at equivelant difficulty levels. Maybe I haven't played it enough to notice.

[The diplomat]

I stopped playing SMAC for awhile. But now I am playing it again and still lovin' it. I still hate it when I hit the mindworm explosion in mid-game. I have this nice empire with nice big cities and then boom all these mindworms suddenly tear up all my terrain improvements. argh!

[binTravkin]

I've found the Civ3 AI to be more challenging at equivelant difficulty levels. Maybe I haven't played it enough to notice.

Man!

Have you seen bonuses which Civ3 AI recieves at the start and through all the game?

If SMAC AI was given +5 industry by default (50% of real costs for EVERYTHING that needs minerals), spare 3-4 military units and spare 1 or 2 colony pods, I think SMAC AI would kick your ass swiftly!

It's the difficulty setting of deity in which Civ3 AI recieves those settings and is still stupid enough to lose a game with me.
SMAC AI would hardly lose to any human given the bonuses listed above

[Illuminatus]

CIV III gives bonuses to AI, and AI is generally better programmed for some things than in SMACX. However, it is easy to best it, since it lack creativeness. However SMACX AIs are also not very creative, since they tend to do incredibly stupid things, like crawling minerals from fungus, emptying base and moving garrisons elsewhere while there are rovers in base radius and let's not forget the weird diplomacy actions (several times, AI would declare war on me, and turns later when one of it's units would meet one of my units it would offer unconditional surrender ? ).
In its genre, SMACX is the best. However, I consider it to be best civlike game, since there are other great games, like R:TW, HoI, EU2 etc which tend to play more now than SMACX.

[Chaos Theory]

Originally posted by binTravkin


Man!

Have you seen bonuses which Civ3 AI recieves at the start and through all the game?

If SMAC AI was given +5 industry by default (50% of real costs for EVERYTHING that needs minerals), spare 3-4 military units and spare 1 or 2 colony pods, I think SMAC AI would kick your ass swiftly!

It's the difficulty setting of deity in which Civ3 AI recieves those settings and is still stupid enough to lose a game with me.
SMAC AI would hardly lose to any human given the bonuses listed above

SMAX AI, on Transcend, gets an effect like +3 industry, which can rise to +4 or +5 later in the game. I think I would still stomp the SMAX AI even if it had an extra colony pod and some miscellaneous military units, though it would have a larger window in which to catch me before I had caught up to the AI's boosted start.


To Kirov:

I've forgotten too much about the research predictor tool to search for it effectively, but others here, like Illuminatus, should know.

[Illuminatus]

Here it is - be sure to carefully read rules.

[Mart]

I play both SMAC/X and Civ3. When I compare both games, definitely SMAC wins. Some mods for Civ3 might somehow get closer to SMAC level, but I haven't seen any yet. The main problem with Civ3 is diplomacy and spying. Also lack of customizable units. After SMAC this genre should have always customizable units. And I do not think it is something which cannot be done.

Only one game can make me stop playing SMAC/X - SMAC2

[livid imp]

Civ 3 is extremely stupid in its diplomacy, even worse than SMAC(X). Tiny civs with no military to speak of with demand tribute, over and over again, etc.

Although the tactical AI in Civ3 is a little better than SMACs....but that is like saying cow sh!t tastes better than dog sh!t. Who cares, you dont want to eat either of them.

[WotanAnubis]

I still play SMAC/X occasionally. Usually in great big massive bursts of complete obsession that die down again after a while.

I also once borrowed "Call to Power" from a friend once, but after playing that for a couple o' hours I ran back to SMAC and haven't looked back at any Civ game since.

[H0bbes]

I play pbem's most days, still play against AI in old saved challenges etc. Bought a 2nd hand copy of Civ III, bored me to tears. It's gathering dust somewhere in my study now. Played it less than 10 times.

Hobbes