Why is this game so damn good? And when will we stop playing?

[Dis]

the funny thing is, I initially got bored of this game after about 3 months. And it's been off my hard drive before.

But I've come to the resignation that there won't be any new TBS games that are worth a damn. Civ3 was alright, but still not as good as this game.

So I'm playing it again. I play a couple games a month probably. It's not a game I play all the time.

If they ever design a game better than this one, then I'll stop playing.

It's just I had this vision of me playing this same game 30 years from now. Do you all think that's possible? To play a game for so long?

[Zeiter]

Yes, especially when there are infinitely many modifications for it. About six months ago I completed a modern Earth mod of the alpha.txt file, and it was like a whole new game, and actually, in my opinion, even better than the regular. And then when I play now on my Earth map, man, those Eurasian wars get crazy. Yang with the PTS spreading across Eurasia like a virus is NOT easy to deal with, especially with this mod.

In fact, I don't know if I can go back to regular SMAC now.

I'm also in the process of making a cold war scenario, based off of this alpha.txt. Hmmmm, might make an interesting 1 or 2-team democracy game, eh?

[Googlie]

I think an earth-based 3 team democracy game (playing 2 factions sequentially each) would rock - Industrialists/researchers (Morgan/Zak in North America) vs communists/labourers (Yang/Domai in Europe) vs fundamentalists/survivalists (Miriam/Cha Dawn or Santiago in Middle East & Asia)

If we needed that seventh faction then a beefed up Gaia or PK's could be placed in South America and Africa, or the Pirates could be given footholds in both and a strong navy to start with

[Net Warrior]

I'm playing a PBEM on an Earth map and I really like it. I plan to play lots more games on it from now on. Any history buff is bound to get added enjoyment out of playing SMAC\X on an Earth Map.

[Darsnan]

Now that we've heard from the Introverts with the Oedipal Complex of wanting to go back to the womb of Humanity, lets hear from the Extroverts: why go back to a planet that has probably been turned into a charred cinderblock (and if it hasn't, then how come our "parents" haven't written, or sent a second ship to check up on their errant ofspring?)? And why stay on just Planet? The wreckage from those Progenitor Battlecruisers have to be insystem somewhere. Find just one of them with a working FTL Drive (or a Progenitor computer with the FTL technology on it), and along with the Progenitor's starmaps, why the Galaxy beckons before us to be explored!
To sum it up: one of Mankind's strongest traits has been his desire, and drive, to explore the unknown. From our earliest anscestors who first came down out of the trees to explore the savanah's around them, to Mankind's first foray into the stars (i.e. the Unity), those that have passed on the true genes that make us unique are those that ventured the farthest.
So, you can either stay up in the trees where it is safe and you know what to expect, or you can strike out into the unknown lands that are the savanah's of space that surround us....


D

[Flubber]

I doubt I will ever stop playing

[Dis]

Originally posted by Zeiter
Yes, especially when there are infinitely many modifications for it. About six months ago I completed a modern Earth mod of the alpha.txt file, and it was like a whole new game, and actually, in my opinion, even better than the regular. And then when I play now on my Earth map, man, those Eurasian wars get crazy. Yang with the PTS spreading across Eurasia like a virus is NOT easy to deal with, especially with this mod.

In fact, I don't know if I can go back to regular SMAC now.

I'm also in the process of making a cold war scenario, based off of this alpha.txt. Hmmmm, might make an interesting 1 or 2-team democracy game, eh?

I was going to ask where you found it, but I see you modded it yourself. What did you change?

I have played on earth maps before, it's an interesting change of pace. It can be pretty easy one one's with no fungus. But it helps the ai out a great deal as well not having all that fungus to clear.

[Net Warrior]

I like the Earth map because everone is garanteed an excellent starting spot pretty much.

[Zeiter]

I was going to ask where you found it, but I see you modded it yourself. What did you change?

Ah, I almost forgot, I've made a few minor modifications since my last version of it, and I've supplied concepts.txt, labels.txt, etc. files to go along with it. I've also tweaked my Earth map a little bit to make the polar regions less habitable, place resources where they actually occur in real life, and trim up some coastlines. This Earth map version is without pods, which is more realistic. Anyways, it's here:

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=3496438&t=7906#post3496438

What changes did I make with my modern Earth alpha.txt? The biggest change is that the tech tree is completely different. Not just the names, but the order and attributes of each one too. Crawlers are completely disabled (and I've become firmly convinced after playing like this that this is how it's supposed to be). Air power has been diminished in a number of ways, although it's still very potent. But this mod forces you to integrate strong land forces with the air power, especially if you are up against a lot of AAA defenders (which get +150%). Comm jammers are slightly less useful (+25%), making tank warfare much more feasible. Tanks have been moved down to around the early middle game. Infantry and, later, Tank transports become very tactically useful. Artillery can do up to 100% damage in the open and up to 60% in a bunker or base. Probe teams are only 1 move units until you get the rover chassis, which is in the middle early game. Native units are now insurgents, and now they have a cool icon. Genejack factories are now assembly line factories. They become available at IA, but they create 2 extra drones instead of just 1. This simulates quite well, I've found, the boons and difficulties of industrialization as it really was in history.

The computer rocks with this mod. I was in a genuine battle with computer yang in one game, and he used 3 planet busters on me, taking out key bases with SP's in them (such as one with the HSA. Yeah, that hurt). It took a good 40 years of heavy fighting, with losses of over 150 units on both sides (actually, my losses were about 140 and his were about 250) to subdue him. I don't know about you, but I'm not used to those kind of losses.

[GeoModder]

I'm not even used having that number of military units.

But it sounds interesting nevertheless.

[Dis]

I only got the expansion a couple of months ago.

I just played a game as the free drones. This is the first time I played them (at least to completion- the hall of fame shows another game where I played them, but didn't finish the game)

Of course, I was playing the earth map, so it was pretty easy. . But you'd think it would be easier for the AI as well, since they don't have to clear all that fungus (although the gaians were planting fungus it looked like).

Very powerful faction. They get a slow start because of their research. But after I got some crawlers and free market up, I did pretty good.

there's still a couple of factions in the expansion I have not played.

data angels, planet cult, those defensive aliens (I played the offensive ones). there might be one more- I'd have to check

[vishniac]

Ok, I have downloaded the modernearth-mod and extracted the files.

Now, can someone help a computer-challenged guy?
Which files to send where? (Use common terms instead of technical ones, PLEASE!)
Will that prevent me from playing original SMAX or is it still possible to play which one I choose?

[Yeah, I'm sure the answer is somewhere out there but, you know, not enough time... If someone could PM me the way-to-do in plain terms, would be cool!]

[Zeiter]

Sure, I'll walk you through it. First, go to your SMAC file directory. Make copies of all of the .txt files that you'll be changing (such as alpha.txt, concepts.txt, labels.txt, menu.txt, tutor.txt, script.txt). I usually name the copies "alphareal.txt, conceptsreal.txt," etc.) To change the name of a file, just click once on the file, wait a second, click again on the file name, and edit the file name. Then place the modded files that you extracted from the zip file in this directory. Rename these files (modernearthalpha.txt, conceptsME.txt, etc.) to the names that the game will recognize (alpha.txt, concepts.txt, etc.). Then you are ready to play. Loading the earth map should work just like any other map. And I don't think that it should mess up anything with regards to SMAX.

[Asmodean]

To go back to diss' original question, why do we keep playing a game that has an arguably crappy AI. A game where we have to give ourselves all sorts of handicaps and limitations, to not win by a comfortable margin. I mean...even on transcend, the game is just soooo easy to beat.

I my mind that says a lot for the atmosphere that Firaxis managed to create.

Asmodean

[Dis]

Originally posted by Asmodean
To go back to diss' original question, why do we keep playing a game that has an arguably crappy AI. A game where we have to give ourselves all sorts of handicaps and limitations, to not win by a comfortable margin. I mean...even on transcend, the game is just soooo easy to beat.

I my mind that says a lot for the atmosphere that Firaxis managed to create.

Asmodean

actually I'm not that good. I don't win all my games. Although I probably could. Sometimes I get a poor start. I always seem to forget how I can come back in the second half. But sometimes it seems so hopeless. And sometimes I do get overrun by the ai military units.