What do YOU want in SMAC2

[Cybergod]

Just who sent those emails?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

You will need to modify that speech from Star Trek to make it both original and, remember what I said about the robot speech - no punctuation. But what if the human translators could succesfully translate it fully to english, WITH punctuation?

I do not fully understand Blake's idea about using nuts. Please could you explain it a bit further for the dumb (moi) .

[Cybergod]

**flipping hell, another double post**
[This message has been edited by Cybergod (edited March 30, 2001).]

[Cybergod]

Nah... I think that will be too much editing. But yes they could have different ways they look (like in SMAX, where progenitor have different vehicle designs from humans) and maybe different names but in my opinion we should keep the similarities similar . You don't get that sentence? Neither do I?

[It'sLikeThat]

quote: Originally posted by Cybergod on 03-30-2001 12:45 PM I do not fully understand Blake's idea about using nuts. Please could you explain it a bit further for the dumb (moi) .

Blake's idea was that in addition to minerals, armies need also be supported with nuts, so this limits ICS, and actually forces the player to develop and nuture each base.

It's a good idea, but i think that one unit supported by one nut is a little too expensive, maybe two or three per nut.

And maybe an option to recruit mercenaries or something from somewhere, supported per turn by energy (salary)

[Cybergod]

Why are all of my posts messed up? For example when I wrote the number '2' it showed the word 'two'.

[Jokka das Trevas]

I dunno if someone agree with me, but I think that probe teams shouldn't expose it's factions either on success or failure(even if lost). That spoils the "covert ops" part of the game, since they're not covert(you're exposed when your probe team is lost)

I mean, enemies can see your probe team but can't tell it's YOUR probe team, unless they capture it with a combat unit or another probe team(THEN you should be exposed, because the enemy DID made something to discover who was).

But when you stealthly approaches the enemy city and he can't see you until it's too late(i.e: the probe team attacked), he shouldn't be "rewarded" by my exposure if he didn't took any preventive measures to keep my probe teams off, even if the team fail...

I mean this because when you try to take advantage of the Data Angels traits of probing, if you afford to land your probe unit in a enemy city, if you do anything else than infiltrating you risk being exposed and bring war to yourself(talking about single player transcend levels here).

Sure, I agree that biological contamination should expose the faction who did it, but other than that I don't think it's either realistic nor fair.

What do you think of it? After all, the means you have of protecting yourself from probe teams are many, it is just fair that your faction don't get exposed that easily and for free.

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Long live THE HIVE!

[Jokka das Trevas]

Oh, I forgot saying this:

1) Different plots and endings Seeing that the transcend finale for the Usurpers is completely EQUAL to transcending human is frustrating. Hell, weren't that guys bent on conquering the universe? What was my disappointment when I saw that the game didn't showed me how the f**k the Usurpers would use planet for belic purposes!

And also: sister Mirian would think(at least in the beggining) that the voice of planet would be the devil or a false god and would repel it. Deirdre would chit-chat more with the voice and so on.

2) Removal of random battles and moves Random events is one thing, but random EVERYTHING is ridiculous. I mean, it's ridiculous that my one-move unit try 7 times to cross a single fungus square but don't make it because the damn idiot game engine decided that it should be random. Same thing for random encounters, such as fungus(yes, it's random. If you encounter a worm in a fungus patch and reload game and go again most probably the worm won't be back). This shoudn't be random, the worm should appear(remain hidden if in fungus), but not random. Why?

Because if you move through a large patch of fungus, in random encounters you can have bad luck and encounter up to 5 worms(one at a time, in a random encounter). If the worm REALLY exists and it's not random, you'll find 2 of them at most.

Luck is a welcome part in strategy game, but many strategic affairs shouldn't be decided solely on luck - if so you don't need strategy at all, yeah? :P

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Long live THE HIVE!

[Paul Vella]

I've been thinking about this recently and I've found that the U.N.S Unity was suppose to reply back to the United Nations after it colonised Alpha Centauri. Therefore humans still existed on or around Earth. What if the Earth is a wasteland and that humanity still exists on board the International Space Station where a second voyager dubbed U.N.S Humanity will be dispatched to Alpha Centauri? After all humans back near Earth wouldn't know about the death of Captain Garland and that their was a spilt in the group causing seven factions. So they would assume that the U.N.S Unity was completely destroyed or got lost. Either way, they think it failed. A second voyage to Alpha Centauri would see them there to find out what happened to U.N.S Untiy and coloinize the planet at all costs.
In my view, the second voyage would also nead a drastic stiuation to cause the group to spilt into another seven factions. However, when they arrive on Alpha Centauri, they find the other factions from Alpha Centauri AND Alien Crossfire still existing. They send a reply to the International Space Station which uses new technology to make it go faster then the speed of light (but still take years to reach there). Anyway, I think that by the end of SMAC-2 perhaps they could put in a colony pod from the International Space Station with the remained of the humans in it. Signifying Humanity's new home Alpha Centauri. Anyone who wishes to discuss this with me can at pjcvella@searchmalta.com

[Cybergod]

quote: Originally posted by Paul Vella on 04-04-2001 02:01 AM I've been thinking about this recently and I've found that the U.N.S Unity was suppose to reply back to the United Nations after it colonised Alpha Centauri. Therefore humans still existed on or around Earth. What if the Earth is a wasteland and that humanity still exists on board the International Space Station where a second voyager dubbed U.N.S Humanity will be dispatched to Alpha Centauri? After all humans back near Earth wouldn't know about the death of Captain Garland and that their was a spilt in the group causing seven factions. So they would assume that the U.N.S Unity was completely destroyed or got lost. Either way, they think it failed. A second voyage to Alpha Centauri would see them there to find out what happened to U.N.S Untiy and coloinize the planet at all costs. In my view, the second voyage would also nead a drastic stiuation to cause the group to spilt into another seven factions. However, when they arrive on Alpha Centauri, they find the other factions from Alpha Centauri AND Alien Crossfire still existing. They send a reply to the International Space Station which uses new technology to make it go faster then the speed of light (but still take years to reach there). Anyway, I think that by the end of SMAC-2 perhaps they could put in a colony pod from the International Space Station with the remained of the humans in it. Signifying Humanity's new home Alpha Centauri. Anyone who wishes to discuss this with me can at pjcvella@searchmalta.com

Paul, got your email .

For the answer to yuor questions PLEASE read my previous posts on page one aswell!!! (not shouting just stressing the importance)

[Paul Vella]

hhhhmmmmmmmm, I like your idea alot (esp the evloution of the humans) but I must tell you that the Earth was completely destroyed. No life can grow there. But your ideas could be mixed with mine. You see, because a second voyage to Alpha Centauri is made, the original faction leaders will not know much of the modern Earth history and that could be incorpraited as a secret project or technology that they discover and they realise just how much of a threat the aliens are as they tried to attack or colonise Earth
for themselves???????????
Seriously, I think that your ideas are actually great, though I think that the game needs way more terraforming. We need to build more things and I find that everything built is all for warfare, perhaps we could build things other than troops and tanks and aircrafts?
Ummmm have you given any thought to the names of your new factions? I've got some but I'd like to hear your ideas to.
Good luck with your ideas!

P.S You never did tell me what you thought of my ideas?

[Jokka das Trevas]

Sorry Paul, Earth is not destroyed

Just see the file "interlude.txt"(or something like that) in SMAC's directory and see one of the interludes...


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Long live THE HIVE!

[Paul Vella]

Are you sure, cause there's alotta die-hard fans out there who believe the Earth was destroyed. Anyway, why did the UNS Unity leave then? There's a novel Centauri Dawn, you should read it, it's by some guy who was a writer of the game I think, everyone's hooked on it.
Anyway, what ideas do you have?

[Paul Vella]

And anyway, who are we gonna send our ideas to? I've checked out the Fixias website but there's no e-mail's or anything. I know they ain't gonna ask us for our opinions but there should be an address aat least...

[BillyM]

Originally posted by Blake on 03-26-2001 04:34 PM
Unfortunately AI's fail to understand there is a tommorow.

Nope, a well designed AI can plan for several rounds using something as simple as a binary search algorithm. (Going for depth first searches if time is limited, width first if a better solution is wanted.) Most chess AI:s do this.

Hehe. Not possible. Don't make this a thesis until you can compute the orders of magnitude difference involved between a simple game with 6 "units", a very small board, simple deterministic exchange & movement rules, complete enemy disposition information and trivial position evaluation versus the SMAC universe.

Forget about strengthening the AI, it's not going to happen, no matter how many magic wands you wave and say 'Make it so'. The problem is far too complex, so play the really tough AI, your fellow humans. Available NOW.

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Put in some DECENT Multiplayer support, add 'master server' features.

Add the ability to have the AI (as crappy as it is) take over a human's faction when they drop out. Allow an incoming human to take over an AI's faction. Add passwords to control such exchanges when necessary.

Doing those 4 simple things would allow for 'floating games'. SMAC takes hours to play on a large map, so make it easy to allow people to join/leave such long games. Consider creating a faction team to play other faction teams in the same game, i.e. all the Morgan lovers can team up and play various shifts around the clock (probably get even more energy credits too) against the Yang teams, etc. The Builders vs the Warmongers, The Nomad Challenge game,...the variations are endless, as people are very adaptive.

[Jokka das Trevas]

You got me wrong, Paul

Humanity in Earth is destroyed maybe(didn't read the book), but not Earth itself.

I insist that you read that prelude file. I've never seen that prelude I'm speaking about in the game, guess this is when you lose transcending...