What do YOU want in SMAC2

[Cybergod]

I am preparing to post a big file once I finish it later on to Apolyton forums and Firaxis team. But first I need feedback...

So what do you guys want improved? Here are some suggestions:

*Game Interface
*AI
*User Creation
*MP
*Misc. Ideas

oh yeah and most importantly (cos I need ideas for this one)
*what do you think the post-apocalitptic Earth should look like?

I've already got some ideas. These include new human/amphibian lifeforms, mars/moon colonists and roaming mutant hordes (like mindworms or barbarians in civ)

Your opinion...

------------------
"I hate this storm. The others all pretend they're not afraid but I know better. They're as scared as I am, but they won't admit it. They look at me and smile and make brave faces and they can see how frightened I am. The wind howls out there and they all pretend they don't hear it. And when I turn my back to them, when they think I can't see them, they laugh at me. I can hear them laughing at me even over the noise of the wind."

Extract from
"Return to Mars"
by Ben Bova

[Lefty Scaevola]

better AI particularly for combat.

more storyline included on disk, perhaps accessable from Faction Profile.

story writers would like a logging fuction that records the story significant parts of there gamess: firsts, contacts, diplomacy events, combats, captures.
[This message has been edited by Lefty Scaevola (edited March 26, 2001).]

[Blake]

Unfortunately AI's fail to understand there is a tommorow. They exist only in the "now" so to speak.

What should be done is improved understanding of terraforming and facilities, and the importance of them, this should be implemented in an editable file so it can be changed as strategies evolve, with such things as priorities for different terraforming, and where it can (not) go, and ratios between terraforming types. As much as possible concerning AI should be in .txt files, AI's can't evolve, but humans can update them to use advanced strategies. One of the main reasons the SMAX AI stalls is because it doesn't update it's terraforming - and it doesn't use most of it's terraforming. If the AI's understanding of infrastructure and facilities was improved to be comparable to a human player (or cheated to make it look like it) then it would be much much stronger.

[SKiller9]

Aside from the AI issues mentioned above I'd like to see a substantially more complex diplomacy engine. I've yet to play a SMAC/X game and get a feeling for a faction leader's personality that wasn't.. well.. artificial. The factions need a lot more personality variables to determine how they'll act in different situations. Not for the sake of predictability, but for consistency and motive.

[SKiller9]

Just a word of warning to anyone considering posting story ideas. There is a chance that if you post an idea here, that Firaxis will be unable to use it for legal reasons.

[RobN]

The AI is the main problem. It simply does too many nonsensical things and misses opportunities like there is no tomorrow.

[Skanderbeg]

I would like to choose the number of factions to play with.
What an imagination to play on a huge map with 20 factions

If the CPU wouldn't get a meltdown....

[Blake]

I would like a faction design thingy, where you can create point-based balanced factions from major and minor traits, this would be quite a lot of work, and need a LOT of balancing, and probably would need to be updated in patches as various traits are found to be overpowered for the cost - or effectivly neutralised by another trait or whatever. So it would be a lot of work but would also add alot to the replayability (atleast in my opinion). Ofcourse it would also have to include a bunch of pre-designed factions, like the SMAX ones.


Anoter idea I had is to have a certain number of factions, lets say 14. You can choose how many you want in a game. Then extra cool you have 56 (or 1000) AI leaders, and each leader plays differentely (ie builder, momentum, hybrid.. agressive, passive, co-operative, backstabber etc). Either have something like 4 leaders per faction, or even better (but harder) have 28 leaders, which can each play ANY faction, in there own "unique" playstyle. These leaders should be editable, with preferences like "lots of bases" or even "one base challenge". A leader would NOT alter the faction strengths in any way, for example having a leader with growth focus would not give a + to growth SE, only encourage construction of colony pods and so on...

So pair off the factions with the leaders, you have the same factions all the time, but lots of combinations of leaders+faction, for greater longlivity. Thus no faction would be bound to a particular AI leader (ie the Peacekeepers wouldn't always be led by back-stabber Lal, The Hive wouldn't always result in a sprawl of poorly developed cities...)

And if you want to play a relativly peacefull game to high technology assign every faction a builder leader, or for kicks design a OCC leader and play a OCC game against AI's. It would add great versitality and the diplomacy would stay fresh much longer. Leaders would have there own agenda, as well as the faction agenda. Is this Zak who wants to peacefully research his way to transcendence, or Zak's evil twin who's secret agenda is to planetbust every living thing on planet!

I think it would be really cool and build on SMAC's greatest strength - the leaders.

[knowhow2]

or how about a AI personality that only has one single goal, transcend as quickly as possible, say 76 years?

edt : or a psycho AI that would first beat you senseless and then some special constructed "bug" would force you to stay in that game not able to start a new one until the AI is done with (which could take something like 20-30 turns... )



[This message has been edited by knowhow2 (edited March 27, 2001).]

[trevlix]

Other than the AI, I think some new things to build would be nice. For instance, bridges and aqueducts could have helped out in alot of situations.

[Cybergod]

All wicked ideas guys! Keep 'em coming!

BTW why, if you post your story idea here, mcannot Firaxis use it for their own design purposes?

[It'sLikeThat]

quote: Originally posted by trevlix on 03-27-2001 10:25 AM Other than the AI, I think some new things to build would be nice. For instance, bridges and aqueducts could have helped out in alot of situations.

Wouldn't that make it look like Caesar III?

[Blake]

One feature I did like in CTP was undersea tunnels. This removed the PIA factor of having to transport troops by ship, especially because turns take so much longer later in the game, you don't want to have to wait a turn or two to have the transport ready.
It would be nice if bases just off the coast could be fitted with a "bridge" improvment (built as facility) which allows units to treat the seacity like a road square. This way you could plonk a city down in a channel and have units cross freely. Ofcourse the "bridge" could be sabotaged by probe teams, and also be used be enemies w/o marine detachment.

(whoa, what happened to my maths study I was doing...!)

[Cybergod]

Hmmm... Landbridge... Couldn't the user create his own in the existing SMAC? Just input in alpha.txt, in terraform section, that roads (or what do you wana call them) are allowed to be built at sea after discovering certain tech? Haven't tried this one, but I know that bunker, sensor and soil enricheners (renamed by someone to kelp enricheners) can work that way.

Whoops! The above should really got to Creation forums...

[Blake]

Cool idea, and no-one really reads the creation forum anyway

I'm not sure it would work, I havn't suceeded in placing "sea roads" in the scenerio editor, I have placed "sea magtubes" but they have no picture or benefit.

I usually make a "bridge" unit (trans-1-1, clean), but any units lose movement when moving to the base. A proper bridge would rock. Ofcourse if you really insist just raise the base out of the sea... But hopefully in SMAC 2 raising terrain is not allowed! The idea of getting huge mountains from nowhere is stupid, rather it should be possible to "level" terrain, creating more beach or shelf. And global warming should be much reduced, and have more climatic impact rather than sea level change. Condensors should be allowed, but must also be limited in the ability to create wetness.

I would really like the option to play on truly horrid planets which must be terraformed on a grand scale, prehaps planets with no oceans at all, and little capacity for plant life.

Some terraforming things I would like:

Hydro Lab, creates 3 Food on ANY land tile, immune to restrictins. Expensive. (incurs upkeep) Only way to generate decent food on arid worlds.
Hydro Dam: Generates energy. Can only be built on rivers. Quite clean.
Rivers should be more permament fixtures, without raise/lower terrain the course would reamin unchanged.
Geothermal Plant: Generates energy in certain low-lying or volcanic areas (ie drill deep into crust, pump down water, boiling water comes back up and drives turbines) Very clean.
Greenhouse Gas Generator: Factories designed to pump up the atmosphere with gas, creating global warming. Production bonus from tile too.

Council type:

Ice Meteor Impact: Collide a large icey comet into the atmosphere, introducing more water and creating denser atmosphere = warmer climate.

It'd be cool if the map could be split into regions or layered, for example have multiple large aquafors, and only one river can be drilled to each. And areas of volcanic activity, and viens of high mineral concentrations. And areas of excellent fertile soil...
Iow making it more like a real planet.

Anyway, must sleep!