Vote for SMAC2 at firaxis.com

[Dis]

all these exploits are greek to me. I just choose not to use them.

yes I know that isn't practical for multiplayer games, but I digress.

[binTravkin]

all these exploits are greek to me. I just choose not to use them.

A typical single-player's answer..

In MP it takes out very much fun, just to see your favourite SP grabbed by a cheater.

And there is no way you can prove it. There are always factors like pods and other which can be blamed for it.

E.g. you spot an opponent has finished PTS when he has not enough(10) crawlers for it and almost zero Ecs.
He claims he got a pod with 150 Ecs and could rush some 40 mins which he actually snagged by changing IND rates.

Yes, you'd say it's a question of trust and honour to follow the rules, but a person who's tempted to abuse them will most probably do it and there's no way to get rid of such cases...
(which even more annoying)

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Fosse
58% with a 39 point lead over Colonization.

I wonder how many are direct from Apolyton.

I was annoyed that I had to choose a favorite gameing platfor aside from the PC. I have played exactly one game on something besides a PC, and it was at a friends house.

Exactly one more than I have.

[binTravkin]

Exactly one more than I have.

I had played PS one, but it was not listed..

[Solver]

You know... SMAC/SMAX has a ton of bugs, an AI that can't understand half the concepts of the game and graphics so bad that it actually matters... and yet it's an absolutely amazing game, absolutely the most atmospheric strategy game ever, amazing gameplay and everything. SMAC2 would probably be awesome, as well. I definitely want gameplay, not graphics, all the way, just as long as graphics are functional. SMAC2 .

[Fosse]

Agreed. I think that's basically the consensus here. After all, we're playing a game from 1999, some of us almost religiously, just because it's great gameplay.

Give me an AI that challenges me enough to make single player fun again (as more than just "exercise" for MP), patch a few obvious and regrettable exploits or micromangements, a few tweaks here and there.... boom. Great game.

Please just retell exactly the same story - seven factions land on Chiron in 2101 - and I'll be delighted. I don't want the aliens, or even the SMAX five, I don't want any post-transcendance sequel (or a, "Whoops, transcend didn't work... now you're on a new planet... for some reason" sequel). Just a good old, perfectly balanced set of humans on the surface of Chiron wondering what all this pink stuff is.

[Sebed]

Originally posted by binTravkin
A typical single-player's answer..
In MP it takes out very much fun, just to see your favourite SP grabbed by a cheater.

And there is no way you can prove it. There are always factors like pods and other which can be blamed for it.

E.g. you spot an opponent has finished PTS when he has not enough(10) crawlers for it and almost zero Ecs.
He claims he got a pod with 150 Ecs and could rush some 40 mins which he actually snagged by changing IND rates.

yes, you can do it... but how many times?
do it twice and you deserve suspicious...

Yes, you'd say it's a question of trust and honour to follow the rules, but a person who's tempted to abuse them will most probably do it and there's no way to get rid of such cases...
(which even more annoying)

yes, it's a kind of trust each other...
but i think if any player has any doubt at ANY stage of the game - it should be halted and investigated by a proper person (mostly CMN)
this game is buggy and we cannot tolerate persons who abuses them...

[Lord Nword]

I voted of course... 60 % Smac now.... something tells me not too many people have voted...

[Chaos Theory]

Sebed: E_N got away with a lot, and was only caught by statistical analysis of his position.

[Dis]

Originally posted by Fosse
Agreed. I think that's basically the consensus here. After all, we're playing a game from 1999, some of us almost religiously, just because it's great gameplay.

Give me an AI that challenges me enough to make single player fun again (as more than just "exercise" for MP), patch a few obvious and regrettable exploits or micromangements, a few tweaks here and there.... boom. Great game.

Please just retell exactly the same story - seven factions land on Chiron in 2101 - and I'll be delighted. I don't want the aliens, or even the SMAX five, I don't want any post-transcendance sequel (or a, "Whoops, transcend didn't work... now you're on a new planet... for some reason" sequel). Just a good old, perfectly balanced set of humans on the surface of Chiron wondering what all this pink stuff is.

I think to work they do have to start in 2101 and have a similar story.

Though I'd want planet to be a lot different. But I like the concept of 7 opposing factions dividing up when they reach planet.

I was never big on the whole mindworm thing (and living planet), I wouldn't mind seeing that go away.

[Darsnan]

Originally posted by Dissident


I think to work they do have to start in 2101 and have a similar story.

I was never big on the whole mindworm thing (and living planet), I wouldn't mind seeing that go away.

I think that there are many different options to starting SMAC2, and for the most part it would only be limited by the creativity of those involved. In one of my SP Challenges over at CGN I created a whole different 8th Faction to replace the MW's, IoD's, LoC's, etc. , and built a new storyline to tell the tale:

By MY 2473, several Factions have established themselves as the dominant forces in the Alpha Centauri solar system. Planet Busters, Drop Units, helicopters armed with Nerve Agent, and growing hordes of native lifeforms make it clear that, with a single spark, Planet could very well go the way of Earth, and erupt into devastating global warfare!
In these most ominous of times, several minor factions discover the wreckage of a Progenitor interstellar spaceship on the farside of Nessus. In utmost secrecy the Factions agree to pool their meager resources and reverse-engineer the alien spaceship, hoping that by using the interstellar drive they can find a new home, free from the dominion of the dominant Factions on Planet.
After much discussion, the Faction leaders agree that their destination is to be an Eden-like planet labeled on the salvaged Progenitor star charts simply as “Colony: Failed”.
By MY 2492, 1,000 years after Columbus made his historic voyage, the spaceship Santa Maria is ready, and the hyperjump is made to the Beta Lyrae solar system.
However, upon arriving in-system, the spaceships sensors indicate that the planet chosen for colonization is not the pristine Garden of Eden listed in the Progenitor database, but an eroded wasteland, showing only brief glimpses of what this planet must once have been like.
Discouraged by this turn of events, a council is called, and it is agreed that another promising solar system is to be chosen for the purpose of colonization.
Just as the Progenitor-cloned hyperdrive is being activated, a strange alien spaceship materializes in the space above you, attacking your spaceship and sending it into a decaying orbit around the planet below, known as Beta Prime.
Now, armed only with what you could hastily salvage from the spaceship, you must begin anew on the former Progenitor colony planet of Beta Prime!

This is just one idea. I'm sure that there are many more, excellent ideas out there for a storyline for SMAC2, and I think that it should tell a different tale, and one that not necessarily starts out in 2101.


D

[Solver]

The mindworms and living planet ideas were great, something along the line of Solaris. The story was downright great .

[dacole]

I agree the story was what really attracted me the fact that it was civ with a story (and a cool one that before I hadn't encountered though I now know it wasn't really all that original..) was the reason I still consider it the best strategy game of all time.

[Hercules]

I voted for a Smac2 and I voted for gameplay.

It is the strength of the gameplay variability that has helped keep SMAC/X at the top.

[Maniac]

Originally posted by Sid
Sid: We get lots of requests from fans asking us to make another Alpha Centauri…and we’ve been talking about it quite a bit lately. So…it’s definitely a possibility down the road. Go get those Spartans!

Don't listen to him! I tell you!