Help!!!!

[BonehoardTaffer]

I want to start by saying that I am a newby to these forums and that I'm a huge fan of RTS/Civilization Building Games. I love all of them for different reasons. My favs thus far are Alpha Centauri, Cossacks:European Wars, and Empire Earth. I just purchased CivIII yesterday and I'm sure I'll love that. My question is should I buy Alien Crossfire? Other than different factions, granted they have some cool perks, does it really add to the game?

Also, are their any plans to do an Alpha Centauri II? Or is Sid just going to keep doing the Civ thing?

[bondetamp]

If you enjoy SMAC, then you'll most likely enjoy it even more with the SMAX expansion. I know I do.

Even if you don't enjoy SMAC you should buy a copy of SMAX if you can find it at a decent price as you can make a killing on E-bay with it.

[RedFred]

I am another fan of the expansion pack. I rarely play vanilla SMAC anymore. Mixing and matching old and new factions is fun, as is some of the new tech, base improvements and SPs. The new Planet life is also a good addition.

Hard to say about SMAC2. I don't think SMAC sold quite as well as Firaxis would have liked. The Civ franchise is a bigger cash cow. Personally, I seriously doubt SMAC2 will ever come out - but I would LOVE to be proved wrong.

[bondetamp]

Hmm, you seem to state that you do in fact enjoy SMAC. In that case, you should get two copies, in case one of them gets scratched as that damned copy protection makes it hard to take a backup.

I've had SMAX since it first came out, and I wouldn't dream of going back to plain vanilla. It is not so much the new factions as a whole load of new base improvements and Secret Projects (such as the game breaking Skybase Academy, which gives you an Airspace complex in every base!), new types of mind worms (this doesn't seem important at first, but they alter the game quite a bit more than one would think. In a good way. ) and generally some extra goodies. The first time you pop a pod to find a batle ogre MK2 inside your enemy's borders will be very special.

I SMAX

[BonehoardTaffer]

Alien Crossfire

Well, now I have another problem. I found a used copy of the game at a local new/used game store. Everything is there except the manual. The CD works fine and all, but I really would like a copy of the manual. Anyone know where I can find one? PDF would be fine. Or if someone could direct me to a better version than the one that came with the game that'd be great too. Thanks.

[BonehoardTaffer]

BUMP

I really need a manual or something where I can find the new Techs. So if anyone can help I would greatly appreciate it.

[RedFred]

Please read Animal Mother's thread on exactly the same topic.

[BonehoardTaffer]

Originally posted by RedFred
Please read Animal Mother's thread on exactly the same topic.

Red Fred, I saw that thread, thanks. But so far I have been unable to figure out which link Animal Mother was referred to .

[RedFred]

Hmm...It is a leap of faith to assume Animal Mother is a female. But maybe so.

To recap, I know of no way of that you can get your hands on the manual. But, Vel's guide combined with the in-game datalinks combined with a downloadable tech tree will serve you at least as well.

Not sure if you are having trouble finding a link for Vel's strat guide or for a tech tree, but let us know and we can post a link.

[BonehoardTaffer]

RedFred,

I finally found them. Thanks for the help. Now, I just need to decide if I want a hardcopy or one that I can read on the computer.

[Adalbertus]

Originally posted by RedFred: Hard to say about SMAC2. I don't think SMAC sold quite as well as Firaxis would have liked. The Civ franchise is a bigger cash cow.

You may be right. Most people seem to be attracted more by a historic than a futuristic setting, myself included. I like and play SMAC despite of the SciFi, simply because it is that well made. So, I am already waiting a bit for a Civ 4 (not having yet tried Civ3) which is an advance and not a step back from SMAC. I was excited by Civ2 (coming from Civ1), and seriously disappointed by CTP2, apart from the bugs also by the absence of settlers/formers, and that the AI civilizations simply start with a size 8 city, where I had size 1 (this is the worst way of "balancing" the AI against the human player I could think of).