help

[Orioles3386]

I stink at SMAC.

I don't know how to get started. Any help would be appreciated.

[johndmuller]

Go to one of the 'top' threads called 'signed sealed and delivered' and follow the instructions in the first post (its a little tricky to follow and some of the pages might take a while to load) and you will find all that you need to know.

[Wiglaf]

"I don't know how to get started"

Is this a technical problem? If not, where specifically do you need help?

And welcome to SMAC

[Orioles3386]

It's not a technical problem. The longest I've ever survived in a game of SMAC is about 10 minutes. I am always off to a bad start.

[Darius]

You can start by reading Velocyrix's strategy guide. This is what johndmuller was referring to above, but unfortunately the link to Vel's web site doesn't seem to work. I did a search and found this site:

http://guild.ask-klan.net.pl/eng/database/guides/velguide.htm

which has a link to version 3 of Vel's guide. (Velocyrix has written version 4 of the guide and is having it published. We are all anxiously awaiting its debut.)

(Velocyrix, I hope that this link was authorized by you. If not, I'm sorry for publicising it; I found it just now in trying to answer Orioles' question. Where's your web site now, anyway?)

Darius

[Method]

what? you mean there's an easy way to The Guide 3.0? i had to read The Guide 2 because i couldn't find it!

[Basil]

Hmm, Vel's strategy guide is huge. Especially version 3.

Quick advice: if you're playing on a random map, play on a huge, rainy map with low fungus. Don't play at either of the two highest difficulty settings. Good factions for a newbie are the Gaians, Peacekeepers, Hive, and University.

[Mr. President]

Build lots of bases to start, and build lots of facilities in those bases. Don't spend too much on military units unless you need them; until you start getting into problems with other factions, you really only need enough units to defend against native life.

I usually set terraformers on automatic and use governors. It saves micromanagement, and they usually do sensible things. Remove fungus where possible.

Until you get a bit more experience, it's probably best to avoid using Free Market in Social Engineering. Green Economics is helpful for beginners, particularly in the later parts of the game when fungus growth (even on rare-native life maps) becomes a problem.