Technology in SMAC

[Frankychan]

I'm looking back on the tech in SMAC and I'm getting kind of confused. Bear with me cause this post might get all jumbly.

For the Cloudbase Academy, Domai's quote is used;

In one dimension I find existence, in two I find life, but in three, I find freedom.

Foreman Domai,Cadet Induction Ceremony, Mission Year 2216

So this shows that in the year 2216 Doctrine: Airpower is discovered...and is, assumedly, possessed by the factions. We hit Planet on 2100. Ok, I'm just having some problems predicting when certain tech are discovered by the factions. For instance, the Flechette defense isn't discovered until very late in the game (Zeta-5 under attack by Progenitors in the quote).

Anyway, I'm just trying to figure out a basic timeline of tech discovery and I'm using this as a basis for my thinking. Lemme try explain, in 1940 jet planes were introduced...and now in 2005 we've refined the jet plane. 40 years. Blagh, I'm not making any sense, but if you guys could give me your view on when certain techs are discovered, or generally shared, it would help me a lot.

I'm pretty sure formers are the first tech shared with (almost) everyone...it's just those middle techs (like E5 and up) that are getting me confused.


Help please. Apologies for the scatterbrained post.

[Flubber]

huh??

I'm not sure what you want. Are you wondering why it took 116 years to get Doc air??

[waab]

no I guess that he want to know when late tech is discovered be everyone...but hounest I am not sure

[Mark123jansen]

well i figure that the only way to find all that out, is by playtesting. Play a whole bunch of games, and note when what faction discovers each tech, then afterwards extrapolate the averages, and there's your asnwer, a lot of work, but the only way as i see it.

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Mark123jansen
well i figure that the only way to find all that out, is by playtesting. Play a whole bunch of games, and note when what faction discovers each tech, then afterwards extrapolate the averages, and there's your asnwer, a lot of work, but the only way as i see it.

It varies so much though. I've seen games where the Believers for instance are in a corner and a hundred years later are researching ind base. I've seen otherrs where everyone has doc air in 2160. The more players co-operaate, the quicker the techs get discovered.

[Lazerus]

Do you mean just in the game or actual hypothosising (err spellin might be wrong on that ) on when they actually discovered them according to the storyline ?

It would obviously take alot longer on planet then earth due to lack of knowledge of materials present / population / infrastructure etc

[Commy]

Apparently, Genesplicing had to be discovered pretty dang early, considering the faction leaders use it to live...

Also, I am guessing that in the storyline, most factions kind of already knew the level one techs...

[fender]

I think he's trying to say that we have had jet tech for many years now and we're not going to forget it by going to Alpha Centauri. It should be a very early tech.

Second:The former is a pretty advanced machine, something we're not even close to. At least not to the extent of what formers in this game can do. By all rights it should not be such an early tech.

[#endgame]

Note that the Doctrine techs are more "ways of thinking". Clearly a faction that has landed on planet should have rovers. The thinking is that with Doctrine : Mobility, the faction now understands how to put the advantages of a 2 move chassis into good use.

[fender]

Note that the Doctrine techs are more "ways of thinking". Clearly a faction that has landed on planet should have rovers. The thinking is that with Doctrine : Mobility, the faction now understands how to put the advantages of a 2 move chassis into good use.

Well really, if you can put a weapon on infantry you could just as soon put it on anything. Mankind didn't suddenly get stupid did they?

Even so, a former is far most advanced than a rover or troops carrying weapons in the early game.

I accept this as part of the game. I mean who wants to wait a 100 years or so before you can plant a farm, but many tech orders do not make sense in the "real world". That's all I'm saying.

[Zoetrope]

Using only hand axes, a few thousand farmers in the 1800's chopped down 100,000 km^2 of forest in my State in just a few decades? (Why? Because the State govt commanded them to, or else it would confiscate the land and give it to someone who would.)

Compared to that, early formers don't do much more than a gang of convicts with spades, and I'm sure that's exactly how Sheng-Ji Yang prefers to do it.

As for needlejets, maybe the composition of Chiron's atmosphere affects combustion?

Balloons though, should be easy.

Infantry probably is mobile already. Elite Spartan infantry certainly is!

[Frankychan]

I guess my post was more hair-brained than I thought. I mean, if it actually took place....not within game. I understand that the materiels on Planet are different than those on Earth. I just kind of want to know when it's certain tech are generally found.


As an addendum.....


When a base says (1) for pop, what does that actually mean? 100, 1,000....10,000...100,000? What does that mean? I understand that that is a rough estimate and that a (1) for a Hive base doesn't necessarily mean the same thing as say...as Spartan base. The obvious population difference is apparent and they are probably rounding off their bases population, but how much does each base contain? Hundred? Thousand? Ten Thousand? Sorry if I'm thinking too much into this, but it's been bothering me and I kind of want other ppls opinions before I start using this to describe stuff.

But yeah, I wanna know your opinions on this matter.

[GeoModder]

I can't believe that you, a fervent follower of Teh Yang, have never obliterated a base.
Then you should see the number of citizens put to death in such an event, and you can compare it with the population number you see on the base prior to obliterating it.

But, 1 pop unit represents 10000 people in the game. (and don't start talking about a colony pod carrying 10000 people now, there's a whole year to move people to a new erected base).

As for the long time needed to get to the Cloudbase Academy, consider that humanity has to restart on Chiron, with a pretty low base population number. It's more a miracle that they succeed in having the planet swarmed with millions again a century later then not.

[binTravkin]

CBA is not D:AP but MMI btw..

[Frankychan]

I...ah...never obliterated a base. I like to think that the newly "liberated" population will fare better in the folds of the Hive.


....Now gassing or planet bustering a base into oblivion...
And gassing aliens is especially fun.