Should I get SMAC? And if so what are some basic stratigies

[The Bloody Baro]

Well I have 16 bucks comin' from may uncle for helpin' him out. I was thinking about buyin SMAC obviusly you guys are gonna recommend it to me so what are some basic stratigies?

[Apocalypse]

Try the Gaians or Peacekeepers first. They're both pretty flexible. The Hive might be better if you have trouble with keeping cities early. If you are use to the extreme amount of city building in Civ3 the Morganites also could be good.

One nice thing to learn early is mindworms are your friend. Take any better than average moral unit and attack mindworms with it. You will get either money or you'll capture the mindworm. Mindworms are great when they reach some of their more mature forms.

[Ned]

Pod popping on land or sea is a good strategy. If you have a positive planet rating, you can capture any native life that emerges. Worms on land can then be used to pop further pods and capture further worms. Ditto at sea with Isles of the Deep.

Even at sea, the attacker seems to have a slight advantage. So, move that boat up to a pod and wait 'til your next turn to pop it. This will give you additional movement points to attack any native life that may emerge. If you are using a transport to pop the pod, the remaining movement points allow you to run if an Isle of the Deep emerges.

Also equipping a unit with the trance special ability enables the unit to survive most worm attacks.

[Adalbertus]

The only topic here where the answer is not "it depends": Yes, sou should get SMAC
- The faction to start with depends on your preferred playing style: If you like to build, Gaians, or Peacekeepers are the easiest, as war hero you might prefer Spartans (maybe Believers but their research is catastrohic).
- Hive, Morgans, and University are a bit tricky to play but done correctly at least as powerful as the others.
- The very first thing to do is to switch research to Centauri Ecology (or Explore if you play blind research). Once it is done immediately start building formers. One of the major strengths of Gaians is that they can have the former a few turns earlier than the other factions. 1-2 formers per base (Believers or Hive with Police State: certainly 2).
- initially try to get a mix of 2-nutrient squares and forests. 2-nutrient for rapid growth (best on rolling for 1 mineral, and if you've former time left, also with solar collectors).
- Get Vel's Strategy Guide (sources in the FAQ thread). Excellently written, but might be a spoiler if you prefer to explore all the strategies for yourself.

[Frankychan]

I say you should get it if you like these kinda games!

Well like the other Apolytoners have said, as well as the manual, the first thing you should do is pick the faction that you can most clearly identify with. Doing so will make gameplay more interesting and involving.

Basic strategies depend on what faction you pick, but the underlying strategy for any faction is to develop the land around you. Create farms, mines, solar collectors around your bases to help them grow. In the game certain tiles give you additional bonuses, so try and exploit these while you can. Also, it is generally sound mind to explore early in the game. Creatures called mindworms are really pests but early in the game they are easy to kill and they give you "credits" when you kill them.

For diplomacy with other factions, its all up in the air. Each faction leader can be fickle and unpredictable so thats all how you want to play.

Lastly, don't forget that you can change your societies policies (i.e. Police State, Democracry, Wealth, Power)! It took me a month before I found out I could change my society! Doing this will both help and hinder your faction as well as influence your standing with other factions so watch out!

Good luck!

[Method]

first of all if you're coming from civ3, then know now that when a stack of units gets attacked, and loses, the rest get damaged, unlike in civ.

I'd like to suggest that you play the university first. they have extra drones (unhappy people) compared to other factions, but that is really felt less at lower difficulty levels like citizen and specialist. the research bonus should help to get you ahead and they get a free tech at the beginning, so you can pick centauri ecology for formers.

[Alex]

Get it. One of the best strategy games ever made.

As for the strategies, I second what the others have said.

[The Bloody Baro]

Thanks guys. Even though I had no idea of what half you were talking about

[Flubber]

The most basic strategy for most factions is to grow ( you can win with only one base but save that for later). Stress getting nutrients in the early game to allow growth to size two and then build a colony pod. If playing on a lower difficulty level you won't face unrest until your bases grow larger so delay building drone control facilities

Other tips

- watch your units near fungus in the early game- losing a colony pod or former because you did not guard it or screen it off from fungus can set you back

- Raininess of a base square is irrelevant but a river or specials can add to the production of the base square

- Explore as much as you can to pick base sites and if possible, build a road so a colony pod can get there more quickly -- OR follow rivers for quick deployment.

- A good base site has some rolling rainy squares-- a great one has a monolith or rainy squares with a river in the base radii

- Don't mind if your bases radii overlap (base spacing is a topic of much discussion) ... it takes forever for a base to have a population sufficient to work all its squares
- Think about industrial automation as another early technology target-- there are many useful techs on the route

- Once you have industrial auto-- build supply crawlers
- build more supply crawlers
-build even more supply crawlers -- I'm only half-kidding as a supply crawler is always useful

- make peace when you can but trust no one
- tinker in the design workshop to learn about unit design-- build a probeship-- probe team on a foil chassis
-press "e" and go to the Social engineering area-- many choices are available only after certain tech but tinker here once you have the tech needed- the different effects are impressive

- use probe teams to infiltrate the other factions- its much easier to make plans when you know what units and techs the others have

The biggest tip of all

Read Vel's strategy guide OR read a lot of the old threads on this forum in this help section ( Do searches for key terms)-- reading the threads will highlight common misconceptions, areas where strategies differ and almost every important point about the game

So get playing

[Adalbertus]

One other thing, not a strategy, but you'll understand what I mean after you've done it:
Take time to read the Interludes.

(You'll spot them when they pop up.)

[Jac de Molay]

Definitely get the game. Hands-down the best game I've ever bought and I'll get much utility from playing it.

Someone said check the archives, and that's a good way to get strategies once you get going. That's how I was introduced to this great site.

Keep on SMACin
Dave

[Ned]

I just want to note that I tried Civ III, found it wanting and boring compared to SMACx. I am again playing SMACx exclusively and really enjoying it. It remains the best game in the genre, IMHO.

[Method]

i tried civ 3 too, played it for about a month or so, then got bored of it and returned to SMAC. i uninstalled civ and gave it away

[Jac de Molay]

Truth be told, I'd even be quite happy if they released a civ game that mirrored SMAC's gameplay and interface exactly.

Dave

[Sikander]

I'm another person who grew quickly bored of Civ 3 and uninstalled it. Now if I could only find someone who wants to buy it from me (cheap!).

SMACX is definitely the best computer game I have ever played, and it has now eclipsed Civ 1 for the game I have spent the most time playing.