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Chiron. The final frontier.
These are apolytoners of the U.N.S. Unity. Their continuing mission: To explore strange new AI configurations... to eke out more life in the SP game... to boldly alter the alpha.txt where no one has gone before!
Anyway, I've been brainstorming some ideas on addressing some gameplay issues. It's snowballed into a veritable re-juggling of many facility, unit ability, and SP allocation rights throughout the tech tree. It's been heavily motivated by Ned's various AI enchancements and Vel's "Torture Mod" that he worked on a year ago, to specifically raise the bar on all the jaded Transcend SMAC experts who knew all the perfect strategies and could beat the AI with their eyes closed. My aim isn't actually to make things "torturous" for the player as much as to tinker with various imbalances and game-breaking techs. For reference, this includes SMAX.
Planetary Transit System: Moved to Doctrine: Mobility. Widely regarded as a weak SP due to its lateness in the game (damning for an early game SP), it's now available among first-tier techs to jump-start colonization campaigns for those who put in the effort.
Planetary Datalinks: Moved to Planetary Networks. Also regarded as an inferior SP. Human players are rarely behind in tech enough for its effects to make a difference, ipso facto, it's built usually to "deny" AI players rights. Moved to the early SPs the Datalinks may now be worthing building, especially for a faction like the Believers.
Virtual World: Moved up to Cyberethics. Arguably the most coveted SP in the game won't be lessoned in worth coming later. Free holotheatres (which have expensive upkeep) are always bliss. Make Zak struggle a little longer for this one.
Holotheaters: Moved to Optical Computers. Done to put some incentive in researching a typically "dead" intermediary tech, and to continue to tame Planetary Networks.
Subsea Trunkline: Moved to Adaptive Doctrine. Try to get those seabases' mineral production up and running a tad sooner, since (other than Pirate) sea bases have trouble in this arena.
Robotic Assembly Plant: Moved to Industrial Automation. There are no less than four mineral amplifiers in-game, but three of them come too late to make much difference; I always build Genejack Factories (and sometimes not even them). Here's an alternative. There's still considerable appeal in Genejacks, though they're three tech lines up, because they're cheaper to build and cheaper to maintain. It's a decision betwixt cost-efficiency and early industrial boost. Gives the AI a chance to boost their own to boot.
Sealurk: Moved to Bioadaptive Resonance. Great little unit, better at ramming sea bases than Isles of the Deep; pity they're available so late.
Ascetic Virtues: Moved to Adaptive Economics. It switches places with...
Planetary Energy Grid: ...which is moved to Planetary Economics. I feel like this SP is as powerful and reaps benefits on a level equivolent of the Virtual World, so it doesn't hurt for it to switch places with another SP a tier up. I think this tech assignment of these two makes more sense as well.
Citizen: Thinker: Moved to Applied Relativity. Mostly to give a small boost to another "dead tech," since they come a little late to compete much with empaths and engineers as they are now.
Clean reactors: Moved to Nanominiaturization. One of the most coveted unit abilities in the game now takes a little more work to obtain. This deters the Support society effect becoming obsolete. Bio-Engineering loses its luster, but you'll still want it for Retroviral Engineering.
Cloudbase Academy: Moved to Advanced Spaceflight. An extremely sought-after SP for obvious reasons; Vel goes on to say it's obscenely unbalanced. I personally think the Cyborg Factory is more powerful, but I think bumping this SP two tiers, and out of MMI's bloated clutches, is a good thing.
Tachyon Field: Moved to Photon/Wave Mechanics. Boosts another weak intermediary tech, and fortifies typically overmatched defences in-game, which can't help to stand against hordes of Fusion and Shard troops.
Algorithmic Enchancement: and
Nethack Terminus: Both moved to Probability Mechanics. This unit ability, and this wonder, are meant to prevent the Hunter-Seeker Algorithim from "shutting down to probe game entirely" but tend to come a bit late, particularly Nethack, to make much of a dent anyway. Here, within arm's reach of Pre-Sentient Algorithims, puts anyone at risk.
Carrier Deck: and
Repair Bay: Now both moved to the Mind/Machine Interface. Vel often remarked about the navy being the "weak leg" of SMAC, primarily because these two vital abilities were available so late in-game and dreams of Needlejet Carriers are dashed. Now they're available earlier to make those cruisers more menacing.
Cyborg Factory: Bumped to Biomachinery. Such a highly coveted SP, as with Cloudbase, doesn't hurt being bumped a notch. Wait 'til the "full integration of man and machine" takes place tech-wise until one can build this.
Cloning Vats: Bumped to Homo Superior. A game-breaking SP to some, so it should be a delayed until a paradigm for the "ubermensch of the future" is developed and Santiago mass produces her Spartan brood.
The Universal Translator: Transferred over to Centauri Psi. For the world of me I don't understand why this wonder is paired up with Homo Superior, especially since it (purportedly) has to do with unlocking the language and culture of Chiron, the xenofungus, and progenitor artifacts. It makes more sense in tandem with a Centauri tech of the same tech tree level.
Fuel Nanocells: Moved to Nanometallurgy, to round out the now denuded tech, which represents this and the Deep Pressure Hull.
Nanoreplicators: Moved to Industrial Nanorobotics, mostly to fill the void that Robotic Assembly Plants left.
Bulk-Matter Transfer: Moved to Matter Compression. Previously this SP was almost a hazard for most players, giving birth to numerous eco-pops and various ecological hell. You typically built it for the SMAC score, and nothing else, very very late in the game. Now, depending on the state of your mineral production by this point, this SP may have a place.
and lastly,
Plasma Shards: Moved to Super Tensile Solids, and assigned an attack value of 14. I've always thought weapon values in-game exponationally outweighed and dwarfed the defensive values in-game. Plasma Shards are a perfect example of weapon values at their mid-game zenith without even needing to research Silksteel Alloys. And with special abilities like Soporific Gas Pods and Dissociative Wave, things have become tougher than ever for the defenders. I've had plenty of games where, depending on the tech lines being researched, Impact, Gatling, Missle, and Chaos weapons have all had their fair shake and dominance. But Fusion rarely sticks around when Plasma Shards are so close, and Tachyon Bolts are totally redundant. Moving Plasma Shards up fills the gap between Tachyon and Quantum Lasers a bit more meaningfully and gives Fusion and Tachyon a bit more shelf life.
There was some other niggling stuff on my mind, like should the Singularity Inductor and Manifold Harmonics come sooner, the fact that Quantum and Singularity chambers are too close together, should Paradise Guardens and Temples of Planet come sooner, but finally I said "fuggit." I'd done enough modifications, and besides, something had to be left for the upper echelons of the tech tree.
I desperately hope this will help bolster the values of the often lagging "left side" of the tech tree (with most of the defensive techs), as represented by the SMAX poster, since most players (including myself) I know tend to neglect researching them in favor of all the goodies on the right side, with all their Centauri, terraforming, and economic boons. Anyway, THESE ARE MY PROPOSALS! I thought I'd upload my whole paradigm of changes before I attend the gruelling task of assaulting the alphax.txt to implement them. Comments are welcome, whether you think any of these are a good idea or otherwise unreasonable, etc. Intuitively I'm sure, with the Pacifist/Tech/Build/Growth emphasis of the AI and a free former, that SMAC SP has more life in it yet.
These are apolytoners of the U.N.S. Unity. Their continuing mission: To explore strange new AI configurations... to eke out more life in the SP game... to boldly alter the alpha.txt where no one has gone before!
Anyway, I've been brainstorming some ideas on addressing some gameplay issues. It's snowballed into a veritable re-juggling of many facility, unit ability, and SP allocation rights throughout the tech tree. It's been heavily motivated by Ned's various AI enchancements and Vel's "Torture Mod" that he worked on a year ago, to specifically raise the bar on all the jaded Transcend SMAC experts who knew all the perfect strategies and could beat the AI with their eyes closed. My aim isn't actually to make things "torturous" for the player as much as to tinker with various imbalances and game-breaking techs. For reference, this includes SMAX.
Planetary Transit System: Moved to Doctrine: Mobility. Widely regarded as a weak SP due to its lateness in the game (damning for an early game SP), it's now available among first-tier techs to jump-start colonization campaigns for those who put in the effort.
Planetary Datalinks: Moved to Planetary Networks. Also regarded as an inferior SP. Human players are rarely behind in tech enough for its effects to make a difference, ipso facto, it's built usually to "deny" AI players rights. Moved to the early SPs the Datalinks may now be worthing building, especially for a faction like the Believers.
Virtual World: Moved up to Cyberethics. Arguably the most coveted SP in the game won't be lessoned in worth coming later. Free holotheatres (which have expensive upkeep) are always bliss. Make Zak struggle a little longer for this one.
Holotheaters: Moved to Optical Computers. Done to put some incentive in researching a typically "dead" intermediary tech, and to continue to tame Planetary Networks.
Subsea Trunkline: Moved to Adaptive Doctrine. Try to get those seabases' mineral production up and running a tad sooner, since (other than Pirate) sea bases have trouble in this arena.
Robotic Assembly Plant: Moved to Industrial Automation. There are no less than four mineral amplifiers in-game, but three of them come too late to make much difference; I always build Genejack Factories (and sometimes not even them). Here's an alternative. There's still considerable appeal in Genejacks, though they're three tech lines up, because they're cheaper to build and cheaper to maintain. It's a decision betwixt cost-efficiency and early industrial boost. Gives the AI a chance to boost their own to boot.
Sealurk: Moved to Bioadaptive Resonance. Great little unit, better at ramming sea bases than Isles of the Deep; pity they're available so late.
Ascetic Virtues: Moved to Adaptive Economics. It switches places with...
Planetary Energy Grid: ...which is moved to Planetary Economics. I feel like this SP is as powerful and reaps benefits on a level equivolent of the Virtual World, so it doesn't hurt for it to switch places with another SP a tier up. I think this tech assignment of these two makes more sense as well.
Citizen: Thinker: Moved to Applied Relativity. Mostly to give a small boost to another "dead tech," since they come a little late to compete much with empaths and engineers as they are now.
Clean reactors: Moved to Nanominiaturization. One of the most coveted unit abilities in the game now takes a little more work to obtain. This deters the Support society effect becoming obsolete. Bio-Engineering loses its luster, but you'll still want it for Retroviral Engineering.
Cloudbase Academy: Moved to Advanced Spaceflight. An extremely sought-after SP for obvious reasons; Vel goes on to say it's obscenely unbalanced. I personally think the Cyborg Factory is more powerful, but I think bumping this SP two tiers, and out of MMI's bloated clutches, is a good thing.
Tachyon Field: Moved to Photon/Wave Mechanics. Boosts another weak intermediary tech, and fortifies typically overmatched defences in-game, which can't help to stand against hordes of Fusion and Shard troops.
Algorithmic Enchancement: and
Nethack Terminus: Both moved to Probability Mechanics. This unit ability, and this wonder, are meant to prevent the Hunter-Seeker Algorithim from "shutting down to probe game entirely" but tend to come a bit late, particularly Nethack, to make much of a dent anyway. Here, within arm's reach of Pre-Sentient Algorithims, puts anyone at risk.
Carrier Deck: and
Repair Bay: Now both moved to the Mind/Machine Interface. Vel often remarked about the navy being the "weak leg" of SMAC, primarily because these two vital abilities were available so late in-game and dreams of Needlejet Carriers are dashed. Now they're available earlier to make those cruisers more menacing.
Cyborg Factory: Bumped to Biomachinery. Such a highly coveted SP, as with Cloudbase, doesn't hurt being bumped a notch. Wait 'til the "full integration of man and machine" takes place tech-wise until one can build this.
Cloning Vats: Bumped to Homo Superior. A game-breaking SP to some, so it should be a delayed until a paradigm for the "ubermensch of the future" is developed and Santiago mass produces her Spartan brood.
The Universal Translator: Transferred over to Centauri Psi. For the world of me I don't understand why this wonder is paired up with Homo Superior, especially since it (purportedly) has to do with unlocking the language and culture of Chiron, the xenofungus, and progenitor artifacts. It makes more sense in tandem with a Centauri tech of the same tech tree level.
Fuel Nanocells: Moved to Nanometallurgy, to round out the now denuded tech, which represents this and the Deep Pressure Hull.
Nanoreplicators: Moved to Industrial Nanorobotics, mostly to fill the void that Robotic Assembly Plants left.
Bulk-Matter Transfer: Moved to Matter Compression. Previously this SP was almost a hazard for most players, giving birth to numerous eco-pops and various ecological hell. You typically built it for the SMAC score, and nothing else, very very late in the game. Now, depending on the state of your mineral production by this point, this SP may have a place.
and lastly,
Plasma Shards: Moved to Super Tensile Solids, and assigned an attack value of 14. I've always thought weapon values in-game exponationally outweighed and dwarfed the defensive values in-game. Plasma Shards are a perfect example of weapon values at their mid-game zenith without even needing to research Silksteel Alloys. And with special abilities like Soporific Gas Pods and Dissociative Wave, things have become tougher than ever for the defenders. I've had plenty of games where, depending on the tech lines being researched, Impact, Gatling, Missle, and Chaos weapons have all had their fair shake and dominance. But Fusion rarely sticks around when Plasma Shards are so close, and Tachyon Bolts are totally redundant. Moving Plasma Shards up fills the gap between Tachyon and Quantum Lasers a bit more meaningfully and gives Fusion and Tachyon a bit more shelf life.
There was some other niggling stuff on my mind, like should the Singularity Inductor and Manifold Harmonics come sooner, the fact that Quantum and Singularity chambers are too close together, should Paradise Guardens and Temples of Planet come sooner, but finally I said "fuggit." I'd done enough modifications, and besides, something had to be left for the upper echelons of the tech tree.
I desperately hope this will help bolster the values of the often lagging "left side" of the tech tree (with most of the defensive techs), as represented by the SMAX poster, since most players (including myself) I know tend to neglect researching them in favor of all the goodies on the right side, with all their Centauri, terraforming, and economic boons. Anyway, THESE ARE MY PROPOSALS! I thought I'd upload my whole paradigm of changes before I attend the gruelling task of assaulting the alphax.txt to implement them. Comments are welcome, whether you think any of these are a good idea or otherwise unreasonable, etc. Intuitively I'm sure, with the Pacifist/Tech/Build/Growth emphasis of the AI and a free former, that SMAC SP has more life in it yet.
Old age strikes at last!
Remember to edit the NEWFACTIONS list so that the progenitor factions show up as usual; as is I was using two custom factions, the Agrarians of Ceres, and the Nautilus Mercantile, in their stead.
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