Gas After A Big Meal

[Zonk]

In my latest SP game, I was playing University. I was doing real well, tech every 4 turns, taking in about 1500 evergy a turn, no eco-damage. Well, Miriam started PBing everybody in site. I decided I could live with the economic sanctions, so I gassed up the choppers and went after her. The loss in commerce didn't hurt, but I'll tell you what did: the eco-damage was enormous. In just a couple of turns, the eco-damage was unmanagable. I had stacks of demon boils, 10-15 deep. In no time, they decimated my lovely cities from Universities to Kindergartens!
I have gassed factions before, but thinking back, it was always the Aliens. I never experienced this much eco-damage before. Was it the timing in the game? It was 2340-2350. I had zero eco-damage, then the larger cities went up to around 100 eco-damage. I had Centauri Preserves at the big mineral producing bases.

[mark13]

Yeah, I'm afraid gas in SMAC is a funny creature - it only causes eco-damage if done on other humans. I have no idea why this is - I suppose it is written into the code that any atrocities will increase eco-damage, and so gassing thae aliens doesn't.

[Aredhran]

The funniest bit is, if you happen to have repealed the UN charter, Planet seems less angry at you for gassing people... go figure !

Aredhran
-Wondering if Chiron signed the charter too -

[Skanderbeg]

The same thing happend to me just yesterday!
I was playing the drones, luckily beginning to lead in the powergraph, when all human factions declaring declaring vendetta to me. So i fought, if I had no friend among the humans at all, I could fight them with nerve gas ot defend against my many enemies. I had many times fought against the aliens with nerve gas withoud eco-damage, but this time, within a few turns nerve gas goes up to the sky, I had every round one or two pop-ups of locuts near each(!) bigger base, and sea level was rising like water flowing into a bath-tub.
I see, You have made the same experience!
Greetings Skanderbeg.

[Blunderdog]

Yeah, you've got to take it easy on the gas against the humans. My personal travesty was triggered by billions of Pirate missiles from the bases ringing my island. I snapped and gassed the hell out Sven. I even went as far as to obliterate the bases that didn't die in the gas assault.

That felt good, up until a few turns later when the toughs from the Brotherhood of Mind Worms local came knocking.

[cbn]

Does the gassing of humans have to be repeated to trigger the ecodamage? I usually never gas the human factions (SP). The only time I ever did was actually by accident in my most recent game. I was gassing the Caretakers out of existence and didn't notice till I had clicked the gas-them button that the defender in the base was actually A spartan (pacted with caretakers). This single atrocity against a human has not had any noticable ecological effects yet (about 20 years later). Both humans (Spartans and believers) hate me and now its just us three left on Planet.
I have double their combined council votes so i guess that the quickest method to win would usually be to outgrow them until its 75% of all votes and elect myself supreme leader. But won't the atrocity mean that at least the Spartans will refuse to submit ??

So is it either play through to transcend or fire up the military again?

cbn