Seething?

[mezcalhead]

Can someone please explain what it means for a faction to be "seething" and how it relates to interaction with that faction? I've tried to look it up in the strategy guide a while ago, but it wasn't there and really didn't matter to my gameplaying that much. Except to sit in the back of the ol' noodle as a slightly annoying question...

[Sarxis]

They hate your guts. Prepare the pain amplifier.

[gwillybj]

Watch the color of the Bioscan, too. It is not irrelevant.

If a faction's mood is unfavorable and the bioscan is red, they will not be likely to respond to you at all, except to trade curses and dares. If the bioscan is yellow, they may be willing to talk, but with limits. I don't recall ever seeing a blue bioscan with an unfavorable mood.

If a faction's mood is in the middle and the bioscan is red, they are unhappy with you and probably will not be cooperative. If the bioscan is yellow, they will talk, but will keep it short. If the bioscan is blue, they are ready to chat and likely sign an accord.

If a faction's mood is favorable and the bioscan is blue, they will continue to cooperate. If the bioscan is yellow, something about you is bothering them. They may be less cooperative, and might be getting ready to turn away. If the bioscan is red, you are on the brink of losing their friendship entirely.

[Jamski]

Well, you always learn something new about SMAC

-Jam

[mezcalhead]

Ah...

Thanks for the info. Everytime I turn around, there's yet another interesting detail imbedded in the game - one of the reasons it's so playable, I suppose.
So why is it that some factions, the Gaians in specific, seem to have an uncanny habit of trashing a pact and launching a vendetta on the player at the drop of a hat for no good reason and at the worst possible time? AI plotting and scheming?

[Jamski]

The game is so programmed that whoever is in second place in the power-chart will hate the first placed one. Eventually this will even overcome the "love" of compatable SE settings. This also goes with the lowest faction being seen as weak, and some other combos I don't remember.

Also Deedee will hate you if you run Free Market, which is pretty popular, so that could explain her agression.

-Jam

[MattyBoy]

Dumb question, but where do I see the bioscan?

[gwillybj]

The Bioscan is in the bottom-left corner of the screen during negotiations. It is a silhouette with red, yellow, or blue horizontal lines "scanning" downward. It is also male or female, for the leader of the faction with whom you are talking.
The color of the scan changes with the faction's attitude toward you. It can go from blue to yellow, then maybe back to blue... I've seen it go from blue to red in one turn (due to a radical shift in Social Engineering, or an outright betrayal).
Watch your submissives and weak but not submissive pacts. If they stay yellow for a decade or so, they are getting tired of being under your thumb and you could lose them.
To its right is the frame with the series of "photographs" from that faction's leader's history. Those "photographs" are the content of the faction's ".flc" file, and there is a program available for creating them for your custom factions. It is on one of our denizens' websites. I've not tried it.

[MattyBoy]

Thanks, gwillybj

Very helpful.

[mezcalhead]

Ah... thanks, gwillybj. Armed with this knowledge, I shall make good use of my long weekend with it.