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  • Scenario in progress

    I'm working on a challenging scenario against the AI. Here's the background I've come up for it:

    5 factions successfully landed from the Unity: Morgan and his cronies, Yang and his trusting laborers, Aki Zeta-5 and the remnants of the Unity research crew, Svensgaard and the remnants of the Spartans, and against all odds, Miriam and those in the damaged 7th landing pod.

    Over the first twenty years on Planet, Morgan and Yang met and formed a business alliance, with Morgan carefully developing Yang's laborers' initiative without inducing any desire for freedom, and with Yang training Morgan's followers in asceticism.

    Svensgaard claimed the infinite seas and started preying on Morgan's commercial transports. In return, Morgan has sent some decoy transports, rigged to explode when boarded.

    Miriam has decided that Yang and Aki Zeta-5 are abominations for their inhumanity and must be wiped off the face of Eden. She's not too fond of Morgan, either, for being a demon's ally. Svensgaard has carefully avoided attacking Miriam's transports, content to not be a target of her fanaticism.

    Aki Zeta-5 has more or less carved out a peaceful niche for herself and her followers, but now is threatened by Miriam. In response to that, she has allied with Yang, on the principle that her enemy's enemy is her friend.

    In the year 2120, Foreman Domai in Laborer's Throng successfully revolted against Yang's rule and formed the Free Drone faction. Although the base was quickly reconquered, with nerve gas, Domai and his fellow laborers fled to a remote region of Planet to found Utopia.

    Domai views Aki Zeta-5 as dangerous, with her conflicting notion of Utopia, but has found a friend in Svensgaard, a fellow freedom-lover.

    Taking advantage of the disruption caused by Domai, Asa Wright, head of Quality Assurance in Morgan Industries, capitalized on a plan she had been working on since Planetfall. She and some fellow hackers stole all of Morgan's technology and incited drones throughout his empire, while smuggling out supplies with which to found a freer, more cooperative society.

    Roze's actions of course made enemies of both Yang and Morgan, but her love of Democracy has drawn some of Miriam's wrath, as well.


    The starting year of the scenario will be about 2130, with several techs already known to each faction. The player will play the Data Angels, against the boosted AI opponents Miriam, Morgan, Yang, Svensgaard, Domai, and Aki Zeta-5.

    I'd like any feedback on this description of the scenario, and I'd also like someone to help me test its difficulty when I have a preliminary version ready in a day or two.
    "Cutlery confused Stalin"
    -BBC news

  • #2
    I volunteer for testing . Interesting scenario - let me guess - you put atrocity commited against it tag on Yang, Morgan and Miriam?
    SMAC/X FAQ | Chiron Archives
    The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. --G.B.Shaw

    Comment


    • #3
      I'll test it! This sounds like an interesting plot...

      I always wished that SMAC had a feature that let a base revolt and create a new faction, instead of just siding with an existing one. Sure, that newly created faction could have a friendly disposition towards a faction, and could have a randomly picked idealism, but they would be a new faction that would start out the game only with that base's energy reserves and units, and the technology from the faction that it revolted from. In such a case, probe-raping would not be a problem, this game feature would be a lot like real life, and it would add another angle of strategy to the game. All that would be needed next would be to make revolting easier (say that any starving citizen turns into a drone, in addition to the previous requirement of the base rioting for at least two turns.) If starving conquered cities was no longer feasible, it would make conquering and holding cities MUCH more difficult. You'd have to rush police units into the new city ASAP, and if you tried to wage a war in FM, unless you had a lot of energy devoted to psych, forget about it!

      Come on, we want SMAC 2 NOW!
      Civ IV is digital crack. If you are a college student in the middle of the semester, don't touch it with a 10-foot pole. I'm serious.

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      • #4
        Anyone who wants to help me evaluate a preliminary version of my scenario needs to be able to routinely stomp the AI on transcend, since I plan to make it considerably harder yet.

        I have assigned some factions as atrocity victims of others, but not with reckless abandon. Diplomacy is part of the game and it wouldn't be fair to the player to deny any chance to negotiate with the AIs. Any grudge not severe enough to qualify as an atrocity I won't make an atrocity.

        The modes of victory will be:
        Transcendence (but only if the AI does not have the Voice of Planet - no stealing the win from the AI!)
        Destroying what all of the other factions hold dear (this will be apparent in the scenario)
        Diplomatic (possibly the easiest, and I may make this harder)
        Economic (but first you must crush Morgan)

        There will be a few unenforceable restrictions on the player's actions, a couple of which are the restrictions on Transcendence and Economic victory. Since I cannot enforce these in the game, you are on your honor to do it yourself.
        "Cutlery confused Stalin"
        -BBC news

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Chaos Theory
          Anyone who wants to help me evaluate a preliminary version of my scenario needs to be able to routinely stomp the AI on transcend, since I plan to make it considerably harder yet.
          Good thing that I am qualified for testing.
          SMAC/X FAQ | Chiron Archives
          The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. --G.B.Shaw

          Comment


          • #6
            Yep, I am up to the challenge. I've been looking for a really challenging game against the AI for a while.
            Civ IV is digital crack. If you are a college student in the middle of the semester, don't touch it with a 10-foot pole. I'm serious.

            Comment


            • #7
              In my scenario:
              Each faction leader has something he holds most dear. If you capture an enemy HQ, you have a choice:

              1. Return it to its original owner, or
              2. Let your probe teams go to town with mind control probes on the faction leader who lives there. Burn down the base to complete the ravaging of his mind. The victim will become unable to experience that which he loves. The faction will hate you for the rest of its life, but will (hopefully) fight less effectively from then on.

              During your journey to independence, sunspots erupted on Alpha Centauri A. At the start of the game, they are still raging.

              Zeiter, obstructor: check your PM boxes.
              "Cutlery confused Stalin"
              -BBC news

              Comment


              • #8
                Received. You will receive feedback tommorow.
                SMAC/X FAQ | Chiron Archives
                The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. --G.B.Shaw

                Comment


                • #9
                  Thanks!
                  "Cutlery confused Stalin"
                  -BBC news

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Just opened scenario, and I must ask, is that DD`s map?
                    SMAC/X FAQ | Chiron Archives
                    The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. --G.B.Shaw

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Yes it is, though with a few modifications for the scenario's purposes.
                      "Cutlery confused Stalin"
                      -BBC news

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                      • #12
                        Yes, I now have colony on the shores of Freshwater sea . BTW, nice work for now. AIs stole half of the SP ( ), and I am still the weakest faction (MY 2161).
                        SMAC/X FAQ | Chiron Archives
                        The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. --G.B.Shaw

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Well, keep in mind the power graph is broken, since you as the Angels have an aversion to power

                          It's good to hear the feedback. In one test run, the AI completed its first SP in 2155, but then completed 2 or 3 more immediately after that.
                          "Cutlery confused Stalin"
                          -BBC news

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                          • #14
                            In my first run Morgan compelted PTS after 4 or 5 turns. Huh? This is the SP I miss the most. :´( .
                            SMAC/X FAQ | Chiron Archives
                            The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. --G.B.Shaw

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              4-5 turns sounds very fast. I didn't give any cities minerals already accumulated. In my runs, Morgan went for the PTS first, but didn't finish it so fast. Maybe he rushed it with the modest amount of energy I gave him, but that still shouldn't be enough. Math time...

                              30 rows for the PTS
                              210 mins for the AI
                              Assume he found an artifact: 50 mins
                              160 mins remaining
                              Assume ~10 mins/turn: 50 mins over 5 turns
                              110 mins remaining
                              That would still take 440 ECs, more than I gave him. Maybe he got really lucky and found two artifacts that fast?
                              "Cutlery confused Stalin"
                              -BBC news

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