What was your most enjoyable game of Smac?

[Provost Harrison]

Surrendered after nervegas? Are you sure?

[XWaste]

My first ever conquest victory with the Spartans will always remain in my memeory. It was only on thinker level, and I was trying hard to fight my natural builder istincts, but I made gradual progress. Eventually I had military superiority, and it was only a matter of time...something I had very little of. Miriam was the only defiant faction left, and had quite a sizeable territory. I was taking multiple bases a turn but was quickly reaching the 'ol 2500 mark with no capitulation. Come turn 2499 I was taking base after base, and still no surrender. With only a few units left to move I resigned myself to failure when...you guessed it, with about my second to last unit to move I captured that city which finally forced her surrender, and I won a conquest victory.

Most of you have probaly forgotten when a normal game was still hard...I'm still having trouble at transcend level.

[Eurhetemec]

Yes, some of us still have *some* difficult with the SP game at the highest levels, though not to the point of losing, but still. I can remember clearly, however, when the lower settings were a challenge too, especially for people like me, who play "by the seat of their pants", as opposed to by complex formalized strategies (I still refuse to read SMAC FAQs and guides, excpet for specific info) and "role-play" their factions a bit rather than playing to win (which is, of course, more sensible, but less fun for us).

Anyway, the most tremendously fun game must have been the one where I took Morgan, more as a joke than anything else (no idea on difficultly, likely middle-high), and also because I was bored with the others (had had a long Yang-playing stint), and only then found out that he was "awesome" if played right, as I had cash rolling in, almost everyone alive was my friend, and I could buy practically every project straight off. It was a shock after Yang's frugal existance. I won by transcend with the highest score I ever achieved without trying to (nothing massive, but you can ALWAYS get a higher score if you try!), and quickly and easily too.

Now, though, tight games ARE the most fun, I even sabotage myself occasionally, by donating techs to the enemy or the like, and then starting the war up again. Still, this almost backfired in an incredibly tight game where Yang dominated a while back, where I beat him to transcend by one narrow turn (I completely didn't see his transcend coming, as he was at war at the time, only noticed it with a few turns to spare, and not huge amount of cash, and I couldn't nuke him for various reasons).

[Misotu]

Hey Eurhetemec, I'm with you on this I'm afraid. I play by the seat of the pants too - I print off all the strategy guides like a good girl but, um, I just can't get round to reading them

Playing to a formula is not the way to have fun. It may be the way to win, but it's really not the way to have fun. For anyone who wants a good game against a human player, you should be aware that the tourny includes games at different levels. The rarest players (according to the CMN) are those who want games at Transcend level. This might come as a surprise to people who are intimidated by the thought of an organised tourny. DON'T BE! There are loads of players taking part who are in it for the fun, and playing at the level that's comfortable for them. Give it a try. You might find it hard to go back to SP.