Probe Team Morale

[NanoDingo]

Just wondering what factors affect Probe Team Morale, specifically, is there anything that can lower the Morale of Probe Teams? All Units with the Probe Team Module seem to be produced with Disciplined Morale as the default, therefore their Morale can be increased four times (to Hardened, Veteran, Commando and Elite); however, alpha.txt. states that five Techs increase Probe Team Moral (Polymorphic Software, Pre-Sentient Algorithms, Mind/Machine Interfaces, Digital Sentience and Self-Aware Machines) so I wonder whether I am missing something.

[Lazerus]

Nope nothing lowers probe team morale IIRC, just different tech routes i suppose.

[Leon Trotsky]

Re: Probe Team Morale

Polymorphic Software
Pre-Sentient Algorithms
Mind/Machine Interfaces
Digital Sentience
Self-Aware Machines

Originally posted by Lazerus
Nope nothing lowers probe team morale IIRC, just different tech routes i suppose.

Self-Aware Machines requires all other four.
Digital Sentience requires the previous three.

So much for an alternate route.

[Kataphraktoi]

so I wonder whether I am missing something.

basicly just a way to make sure everyones probe teams are elite by the endgame.a tad boring to be able to assume everyone has elites,but thats how it goes

[Kirov]

What can change PT morale is:

1) techs you mentioned

2) Cover Ops Centre (+2 Morale)

3) PROBE SE factor:
-3 to 0 - no bonuses
+1 - +1 Morale (Hardened)
+2 up - + 2 Morale (Veteran)

You can't get more than +2 due to PROBE factor, but there's no rollover, i.e. 4 PROBE still gives +2.

There's no way to reduce PT morale below disciplined.

[NanoDingo]

Originally posted by Kirov
What can change PT morale is:

1) techs you mentioned

2) Cover Ops Centre (+2 Morale)

3) PROBE SE factor:
-3 to 0 - no bonuses
+1 - +1 Morale (Hardened)
+2 up - + 2 Morale (Veteran)

You can't get more than +2 due to PROBE factor, but there's no rollover, i.e. 4 PROBE still gives +2.

There's no way to reduce PT morale below disciplined.

What about the High Morale Ability?

[Blake]

Command center and Naval Yard also increase probe team morale as appropriate.

I'm not sure about Bioenhancement.

[Maniac]

+3 SE Probe gives +3 probe team morale as advertised.

[Maniac]

Originally posted by Kataphraktoi
basicly just a way to make sure everyones probe teams are elite by the endgame.a tad boring to be able to assume everyone has elites,but thats how it goes

Yeah I know; that's why in SMAniaC I've reduced the probe morale increasing techs to two.

[NanoDingo]

Originally posted by Maniac
Yeah I know; that's why in SMAniaC I've reduced the probe morale increasing techs to two.

Ooh, which ones?

[Kirov]

Originally posted by Blake
Command center and Naval Yard also increase probe team morale as appropriate.

I'm not sure about Bioenhancement.

Strange, I've always thought they don't work on PT. But I checked this, and you're right, all these buildings, Bioenhancements including, do increase PT morale.

Originally posted by Maniac
+3 SE Probe gives +3 probe team morale as advertised.

No, it doesn't. Remember that PT starts with Discipline level. Miriam under Fundie knocks off Veteran probes. As well as Angels under Fundie.

Originally posted by NanoDingo
What about the High Morale Ability?

You can't give it to PT. Here's the full list of abilities PT can have:
- deep radar
- deep pressure hull
- drop pods
- comm jammer
- antigrav struts
- polymorphic encryption
- clean reactor
- hypnotic trance
- dissociative wave
- algorythmic enhancement

Neither High Morale nor Soporific Gas don't work, however, you can mount the latter on a regular unit and it does work against Armored PT.

All right, so to complete list:

Probe Team morale factors:

1) Technologies: Polymorphic Software, Pre-Sentient Algorithms, Mind/Machine Interfaces, Digital Sentience and Self-Aware Machines

2) Facilities: Command Center, Naval Yard, Bioenhancement Center, Covert Ops Center

3) Secret Project: Nethack Terminus

4) PROBE SE factor:
-3 to 0 - no bonuses
+1 - +1 Morale (Hardened)
+2 up - + 2 Morale (Veteran)

5) Probe actions and regular combat. It is yet to be verified, but short tests indicate that a Probe duel does not increase morale of the victorious Team.

Anything else?

[Maniac]

Originally posted by Kirov
No, it doesn't. Remember that PT starts with Discipline level. Miriam under Fundie knocks off Veteran probes. As well as Angels under Fundie.

Probe teams actually start with green morale. However as you say the minimal morale level of probe teams will always be disciplined no matter what.

Some proof and consequences of this:

1) You can just activate the scenario editor, check out an unboosted disciplined probe and see for yourself it has green morale hidden under the surface.

2) If you build a probe team in a command center base while you're running Wealth values, the resulting probe morale will be disciplined - no change on first sight in other words. That's why many people think morale enhancing facilitoes don't help probe morale. In reality the probe's morale has been boosted from green to disciplined. If you weren't running Wealth but Knowledge instead, the probe would have become hardened.

3) As you indicated, Miriam starts with veteran probe teams and not commando. This is a consequence of the starting green morale, not +3 SE Probe not working. If you switch with the Angels to Fundy, you should see +1 morale on your probes.

I'm planning to write some short guide to probe morale for the SMAC Academy on CGN, but I never get to it...

[Maniac]

Originally posted by NanoDingo
Ooh, which ones?

I don't know by heart - I should check the alphax.txt sorry.

[NanoDingo]

Originally posted by Maniac
1) You can just activate the scenario editor, check out an unboosted disciplined probe and see for yourself it has green morale hidden under the surface.

Not even the Scenario Editor will let me set Probe Team Morale to anything less than Disciplined - it just defaults to Disciplined. Maybe this has something to do with Version/Patches...I'm using SMAC 4.0 with the SMAX patch (but not SMAX itself).

[Kataphraktoi]

SMAC Academy on CGN, but I never get to it...

i notice theres alot of articles that were never gotten to...