hello and sth more

[Micelius]

Hello everyone,
this seems a great site, but so huge - so could the regulars anwer my two simple questions before I spen half of my life reading through ALL-the-possibly-related topics?

I played SMAC a long time ago and now coming to back, as it seems the best (conceptually) games of the type.

But I don't know much about add-on(s?). How many are there? Are they worth buying, do they really add to the gameplay - or are they just new icons, more points for uninteretsing technologies, more blood on the screen etc?

The second thing is I woud like to talk my mate into playing this wonderful game, just he hates the graphics. Is there any reliable file changing the appearance of the game (not just the icons)?

Very obliged foryour help. And may the power and points be with you.

[Mr. President]

With respect to add-ons, you've got your Alien Crossfire. It features seven new factions (although the maximum you can play with is still seven, you can mix and match the new and the original ones) including two cool alien groups, new technology, new units, etc. The new factions' styles are quite different from the original ones, and take much getting used to. Overall it's quite good.

As for new graphics, take a look at the AC-Creation forum. Use the search function on the forum's main page to look for "graphics modification" or something like that.

Hope this is of some help!

[Frankychan]

Hi Micelius!

Listen to Mr. President, he's right. So far there's only "Alien Crossfire" as an expansion. It adds a few more factions and some new tech as well as some new units.

As for graphics....i can't help you there.

Don't worry about being intimidated by Apolyton, even though its huge, the people are "generally" friendly. But I wouldn't really go into the Off-Topic forum until you have at least 25 posts....

Good Luck!

[CEO Aaron]

Here's a Goldmine article, this was the Article that got me posting here to the Apolyton Forums, so impressed was I with its genius:

http://www.apolyton.net/misc/column/175_ecodamage.shtml

Good stuff in there.

Re: Graphics, they do look a bit bland, especially as time goes by. My advice is to save a game where you can show him what Planetbusters do. Definitely the single most impressive visual effect of the entire game. Not exactly hi-tech eye-candy, but fun nonetheless.

[Cybergod]

Oh Mr. President, your avatar is simply sizzling...

@ Micelius: You can also look for Mods created by various SMAC players. I personnally recommend Smack's Aldebaran Mod - it plays very differently than normal SMAC. There were other mods I really liked but I can't remember much at the moment (sorry all you fellow mod makers )

Check out http://networknode.org and see some wicked modifications 4 SMAC!

[Chowlett]

I personally quite liked the Builder mod someone produced (I forget who), and Vel's "Splinter Factions", which added - yep, 7 new factions, supposedly split off from the original 7. Surprisingly close to the 5 SMAX human factions.

I'm afraid I have links for neither, though.

[gwillybj]

You can find Vel's "Splinter Factions" among the many modifications discussed in this thread: Torture Mod, Ongoing Discussions.

[Cybergod]

Torture Mod was being developed at the same time as the Aldebaran mod, so I never got time to check it out... might aswell now. Seems rather intreguing...

[Straybow]

Hmmm, I'm still trying to figger out this "sth more" part of Micellius' greeting.

[Mr. President]

I understood it as "Something More".

One other tip, Micelius, to do with Apolyton in general:

Don't go into the Off-Topic.

And if you do, make sure you're heavily armed.

[Darius]

Yes, I was wondering about "sth more" too.

[Cybergod]

If you rearrange it you get sh!t

BTW, isn't Micelius a name from some PRG game?

[Micelius]

Thank yuo guys for your helpful help!

As for the mods, which do you think is the most demanding when it comes to AI?

And which could be most beautiful graphically?

As for my name, I invented it when I was starting playing Civ1 and wanted one Roman-like instead of Caesar (and my "real-life" first name is Michael, so...)