Name the #1 thing SMAC2 should have!

[The diplomat]

If SMAC2 were ever made, what MAJOR change or new feature would you want to see!

For me it would probably be completely different graphics.
The 3-D map was interesting but I don't think it is the best way. I would go back to a flat map but do the visuals to make the landscape look alien and cool. The unit graphics should also be worked on to make them more distinguishable.

Small changes would include:
-stacked combat.
-reworking the tech tree to make it easier to understand. Non-scientific people should have an easier time grasping what the techs mean!
-adding an animated city view to give the player a better sense of the factions ideology. Each faction has a unique architecture, so let's see it glorious detail in a city view. Let's see people walking around. if your the University, your citizens could walk around with labcoats. If your the Spartans, your citizens could look like soldiers. It's just eye-candy but it would be nice.

[vitamin j]

I'd buy it if was just a complete bugfix of SMAC. I kind of like the graphics as they are, but an update would be nice. What do you mean by "stacked combat"? I think a re-worked combat resolution system would be cool... Maybe some way that incorporated each sides attack AND defense value at once, so a 6-3-1 unit attacking a 6-1-1 unit wouldn't have it quite so easy... I don't know what else. I know somewhere there must be a very large thread on this topic...

[Lefty Scaevola]

Breast enhancement!

[vitamin j]

[Yxklyx]

Better AI!

[RedFred]

Cash prizes for transcending.

[Sikander]

I actually like SMAC's graphics except for those units! As a friend says, "What's with all those guys who look like they are mowing their lawns?"

SMAC is a brilliant game, and just a bug / play balance fix and some reworking of the graphics would be well worth the price of admission, especially if Fireaxis would buy back Civ 3 from me for half price or something.

If we are talking about a major reworking involving basic game concepts, then something should be done about the whole concept of this and previous Civ games regarding tactical and strategic play on the same map and time scale. This really destroys any sort of realism.

How many years does it take a modern ship to circumnavigate the globe? In a Civ game it is decades. Aircraft take years, and wars like WWII would take decades or even longer. The movement system is unrealistic for the stone age, and it doesn't age any better in the space age. I would like to see a game that either concentrates solely on the strategic elements, and removes player control of tactical and operational command, or one that scales down in order to simulate the battles and movements that take place on the sub-strategic scale.

I really feel for the game designers in regard to the AI problem. Consider the fact that I have seen a lot of very intelligent people take years to develop very sophisticated methods of play in SMAC via this forum. That is a testament to the many dynamic factors which could be manipulated in so many thousands of combinations. The AI really has no chance to compete in such a situation. You can significantly improve the AI by limiting the ability of the human player to come up with undreamed of combinations with which to thrash the AI, which is the approach that Civ 3 uses. Unfortunately that makes the game dull for many humans, especially those like myself who have already played a lot of Civ in previous versions, and now have been so spoiled by SMAC's rich environment.

I think at least temporarily the solution lies in two realms, though neither is eaasily done well. The first is multiplayer, which solves the entire problem while creating another, which is the slow pace of game development due to the necessary turnaround time. The other solution is the Europa Universalis factor. That is after you can thrash the AI playing Spain or Russia, you start to play other countries which are more and more difficult. Eventually you could play tiny non-Western countries, which have a hard time even hanging on in their own neighborhoods. The challenge is very scalable within the very same framework / rules set.

With multiplayer you want to design a game that has a good chance of starting the players out in more or less equivalent states, and you want a game system which can deliver a rich set of decisions and rewarding gameplay quickly, mainly so that the game itself can be wrapped up quickly enough to allow players to actually complete a few games. In a scalable challenge situation you will probably want to design some things in a completely opposite way. The game may well last a long time, though it should probably not last any longer than EU or SMAC does currently. Obviously there is no need for a "fair" start in this type of game, the challenge is to play the situation as it is.

[aaglo]

1. Facelift (no, not the Alice in Chains album - actually that would be ).

2. More and more technical data - to confuse more and more players.

3. A bit simplified unit workshop

4. My name in the box (as the evil faction leader if nothing else). But waitaminute... it was in SMACX... My name is Aki , but the picture seems to be outdated.

5. Some really mysterious magical elements.

[TresXF]

nothing - smac is perfect (imho)

good ai
loads of tech + facilities + units
extremely detailed
much philosophy
easy to customize
no hardware hunger
never crashes

i don't need more

[bondetamp]

• An in-game browser, so that I may browse apolyton without exiting the game.
• Data-links that are accessible from outside the game, so that you can look up something in the heat of debate without starting SMAC first.
• A secondary data-links that is updated whenever you want from an online encyclopedia updated by fans and developers alike.

Of course it would also be fun with some of the Civ3 thingies like culture ratings, special resources, global unit upkeep etc.

[knowhow2]

New Factions (although always running the risk of getting ridiculous ones).

Making all the battles more realistic with a different battle scene (optional) showing the different units in battle.

More tech (and more path to Transcend)

Not allowing MP participent before winning on Transcend level on SP.

[MariOne]

Re: Name the #1 thing SMAC2 should have!

B U G S !!!

[aaglo]

Originally posted by knowhow2
Making all the battles more realistic with a different battle scene (optional) showing the different units in battle.

This is good idea. How about the battle system from Master of magic (ok, who doesn't know about this game?). Units could be stacked, and all units in a square would take part in action. But this increases the "micromanagement". Imagine a battle taking some 30 minutes, when on SMAC the same batlle would take one minute. This feature could also be an option (like in MOO2).

[Tizzy]

I like the idea of the city view - I liked that in Civ II and with the different architecture in SMAC it would be great

[mrdynamic]

1. Adding the ability to use anywhere from 2-14 factions when starting a game instead of always 7.

2. Smarter AI, but would a game sell that advertises "Now even more difficult to win !!!"

3. Better editors for designing new maps, new factions, and a faction graphics editor.