Cold turkey - I can handle it

[Hydro]

I’ve been cut off from PBEM for FIVE WHOLE DAYS!

****shudder****

My PBEM partner has the whiny excuse that his XP/Linus computer completely melted down. PalEEEESE!

CAN’T HE GET HIS PRIORITIES STRAIGHT!???

I….I HAVE TO HAVE MY SMAC!

(but can give it up any time I want to)

[Nubclear]

Two words:

Single Player

[Archaic]

Single Player's not that fun anymore unless it's modded up the wazoo simply so that the AI becomes a challenge.

[Aramis]

Oh, come on. Try new strategies rather than mods. Let yourself have an early golden age; don't use your UU; play as a civ w/ attributes you don't like.
I used to mod--went back to playing the game "out of the box" to experiment. Damn glad I did. --Rob

[Nubclear]

Originally posted by Archaic
Single Player's not that fun anymore unless it's modded up the wazoo simply so that the AI becomes a challenge.

Whats wrong with mericlessly conquering bases?

[Alinestra Covelia]

Originally posted by Comrade Tassadar
Two words:

Single Player

Yes, but that's only satisfying for SMAC virgins. Once you've enjoyed the beauty of SMAC with a willing and consensual (and overage) partner, single player just isn't fulfilling enough. Sure, it'll keep you going for a few hours but then you find yourself needing something more solid - something you can sink your claws into and ride all the way to transcendence.

...

Sort of thing.

[Hydro]

I still play single player now and then, but playing with a partner is more fun than playing alone. There is still delight in playing by yourself, but the interactions are more complex, as befits a game like SMAC. This is particularly true when both parties are into it, participating with their heart and soul.

(AC – did that continue your metaphor in an appropriate manner?)

[Alinestra Covelia]

The only difference is that when I'm getting stuck in multiplayer, whether it's something nice and cozy in a hotseat love match, or brazen and exhibitionist in an online free-for-all, I usually end up beelining for the organic superlubricant.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Alinestra Covelia
The only difference is that when I'm getting stuck in multiplayer, whether it's something nice and cozy in a hotseat love match, or brazen and exhibitionist in an online free-for-all, I usually end up beelining for the organic superlubricant.

[Hydro]

OK. You win...

[Marid Audran]

My PBEM experience wasn't pleasant. Dilitory and tedious; one turn a day isn't enough. Of course, should you be so lucky...the .sav train may delay things so it is more like a turn every three days at times. Early game is especially insufferable when there's little to do. And of course if one player goes on vacation or whatnot which necessitates (X) amount of days away from a computer with SMAC you're f*cked.

The only way I could fathom returning it is in an accelerated start/time warp game with maybe two or three other players who are very expedient with their turns. Though even that may get tiresome. It's not that the nuance of human player strategy is unwelcome, far from it, it's just the prolixity of the thing. Too much like correspondence chess of the stripe played in the old days, via snail mail before internet servers.

For that reason single-player SMAC/X remains an outlet for me. Simple things like banning personal crawler use and calculated pop booms increases the difficulty, and there are still novelties like Switch Faction challenge and the cheeky Lazy Governer challenge.

Also, if you're used to using a modified alphax.txt of the rules that govern play (as I do) it's difficult to regress back to a virgin ruleset, or otherwise sell the other players on your innovations.

However, one of Hydro's prose-styled PBEM games is something I'd be very interested in, with a like-minded partner of a verbose bent. Those are the quintessence of the living SMAC/X game, instead of just pushing formers around. Gives one a chance to be creative in a context larger than the game itself.

[Hydro]

MA - verbose is right. Our 6th PBEM ended with 450 pages of 'prose' (to use the term very loosely), and a Word file that was 1.6 MB. So it is much more than pushing formers around; the story is the objective. Since, in my opinion, that is SMAC’s strength then a dialog-oriented PBEM seems natural. What is odd is that it isn't (always) competitive, either. We cooperated if it is in character, which is the point. So far I’ve been Dee (most of the time), Morgan, and Zak. Masterbuilder has been more adventurous: PK (his favorite), Cult, Spartans, and Hive. If I get my butt in gear I’ll finish posting the 6th PBEM, and then start posting our 7th.

There is the one part of standard PBEM that I don't like: if you don't rush to extermination (nerve gas, PBs) you are toast. It makes Planet a vicious place. Now, it very well might be, but with standard PBEM that is what it inevitably ends up (in my limited experience, and from frequent comments by PBEM veterans).

Having more than 2 people in PBEM seems to be a mistake, too. It takes waaaaaayyyy too long to do anything, and it is much more prone to critical failure when someone inevitably bails. Two of my best 7-way PBEM’s died that way, just after I was getting into them, too. That is like a bad batch of fungal gin.

Anyway, Masterbuilder's main computer is still toast (his wife decided to load XP and Linux and then play with the configuration - bad idea; the bios is crispy). Luckily he does have a laptop or I'D be toast and in terminal SMAC withdrawal.

Hydro

[jtsisyoda]

The real drawback of SMAC/X is that two people can't build the Ascent to Transcendance at the same time.

[Hydro]

Yes, but you can transcend as a de-facto cooperative victory - walking hand-in-hand to join with Planet. Masterbuilder and I have done this a few times.

[jtsisyoda]

How lewd!