Skill Levels

[fender]

What is the difference between the different skill levels? Is it mostly in Drone control?
I've noticed a big difference with drones from Librarian, which I usually play to that of Transcend level. Playing with Zak, by the way.

Also, what faction (original) is the best to play at Transcend. I figure it's time to move on up as Librarian level is no challenge to win at all anymore. There are times when I enjoy the easy of that level, but it's really getting tiresome.

[Blake]

The main difference is the drones, and the AI also gets more freebies at higher difficulty levels.

All the original factions are more-or-less balanced at transcend, but Peacekeepers and Hive are probably the easiest because they have the least drone control problems.

[Enigma_Nova]

The Uni's drone control problems are a total of +1 drones on Transcend (effective on a size 4 base).

The total Uni drones increases for lower difficulties.
Uni is definately the way to go for Transcend.

[Maniac]

Originally posted by Enigma_Nova
The Uni's drone control problems are a total of +1 drones on Transcend (effective on a size 4 base).

Don't forget they also get more superdrones if all citizens are already normal drones. This can become annoying if you're trying a Golden Age popboom.

[Chaos Theory]

The Uni can never get more drones from its extra drone penalty than the base would have had content citizens (1 on Transcend). Furthermore, you can never have more bureaucracy drones in a base than the base's size.

Difficulty level changes:
Number of content citizens before the first drone
Efficiency losses
Ecodamage
Tech cost (IIRC)
Bureaucracy
Combat odds (you get bonuses at very low difficulties)
AI mineral and growth box widths
SE change costs
AI temperment
Loss of population when building colony pods (different at very low difficulties)
and possibly other things

[Googlie]

Some other things affected by DIFF include:

start, frequency and, in some instances, effect of Random Events

no mind control by the AI at first 3 levels

timing of AI "Gang-Tackles" where 2 or more AI factions gang up on the human player (never happens at the 2 lowest levels)

At talent and below, secret projects can't be started by the AI until the human player has researched the requisite tech (even if the AI has had it for decades)

no prototype costs or production change penalties at the 2 lowest levels

DIFF (and the best reactor researched) affect the cost of maintaining a Command center

Originally posted by Chaos Theory
Efficiency losses

I don't see DIFF in the formula for efficiency losses

The formula is:

Inefficiency = (Energy x distance) / [64 - {(4 - Efficiency) x 8}]

[kelvinhole]

Do all you guys play on the highest level? Cos I haven't.

[Googlie]

Many of us were avid players of CivII which we played at the Deity level.

When smac first came out, in its truncated demo form, we naturally started right at Transcend level, figuring it was pretty much the same engine running the show.

(I remember knowing nothing about programming in those days - I still know nothing - and gamely opening up a HEX editor to tweak the terran.exe to give 500 turns instead of the 100 the demo had available - and not all the units' abilities or techs were available then either)

So we cut our teeth in the simplified demo at Transcend level, and migrating to the full game, when it released, wasn't too hard

[kelvinhole]

Originally posted by Googlie
Some other things affected by DIFF include:

start, frequency and, in some instances, effect of Random Events

no mind control by the AI at first 3 levels

timing of AI "Gang-Tackles" where 2 or more AI factions gang up on the human player (never happens at the 2 lowest levels)

At talent and below, secret projects can't be started by the AI until the human player has researched the requisite tech (even if the AI has had it for decades)

no prototype costs or production change penalties at the 2 lowest levels

DIFF (and the best reactor researched) affect the cost of maintaining a Command center



I don't see DIFF in the formula for efficiency losses

The formula is:

Inefficiency = (Energy x distance) / [64 - {(4 - Efficiency) x 8}]

I actually read this in a strategy guide somewhere, but didn't take much notice of it because I wasn't too into SMAC when I was reading it. Anyways thanx for reminding me.

[Googlie]

Yeah - they're taken from the Prima Guide

They also can be found in the Datalinks (left hand menu, HQ tab, then datalinks). Here's the Inefficiency formula from there:

[Enigma_Nova]

Look at the Bu
EDIT: Crap no pictures in the reply thread

[Enigma_Nova]

Look at the Bureaucracy formula, too.
I'm pretty sure Ecodamage runs on a similar thing.

Then there's the massive industry/growth bonuses at higher difficulty levels...

[Mead]

Originally posted by kelvinhole
Do all you guys play on the highest level? Cos I haven't.

Once you get the hang of it it isn't so bad (although I still have not quite figured out how to play Morgan).

Play good defense, grow as much as you can, get your probes 'probefoils anyone?' out (infiltration + be ready for the multible probe research catch-up, some call it 'probe rape'), this should allow you to survive the early to early/mid game. Once you survive this point you should be able to pull ahead, take out the mean AI that comes close to you, get so far ahead that you can't lose, and win the game.

Mead

[Santiago_Claus]

Efficiency doesn't do much for Bureaucracy on Transcend level. I think it boosts the cap by 1.5 bases per point of efficiency on a standard-sized map.

Ecodamage is pretty stringent on Transcend, too, although unless you hold the Manifold Nexus global warming is no big deal, and worm pops are actually useful unless you're running Market.

Around here, though, like Googlie said, everyone pretty much played Transcend right from our hacked demo beginnings, so we're used to things like always measuring population growth in drones ("Hmm, UN Humanity Base will be size 6 next turn, better upgrade the garrison to non-lethal.")

The +4 Industry rating Yang and Domai get is daunting when you're in an early land war or SP competition with 'em. That's really where you feel it. They're almost building 2 to your 1 until IA evens the odds.