Readly newbie questions

[Samson2]

Originally posted by Hydro
No question - formers should be the first tech you shoot for, regardless of whether you're a Builder, Hybrid, or Conqueror.
...
If that strat guide says to ignore formers and B-line for Ind Auto then I think they haven't played the game very much.

It seemed that way to me, but otherwise he seemed to be talking so much sence;

Originally posted byA Builder’s Primer (the early game)

Topic 3: Tech Beeline.

Industrial Auto is your Holy Grail.
...
If I have +2 nutrient squares at the landing site it goes like this:
Free Tech - Industrial Base
Industrial Economy
Planetary Networks
Centauri Ecology - formers (Normally I can't get IA after Plan Nets)
Industrial Auto.

If you have any energy specials, a monolith, or bases on rivers you can get IA by 2114-ish.

[Petek]

Well, you'll notice that he ends up researching the tech for formers (Centauri Ecology) before IA anyway. So you might as well choose CE as your free tech (this article concerns the University) and then research the other techs in the order indicated.

The articles in the SMAC Academy were written circa 2002-2004. They still contain lots of useful information, but strategies have evolved and have been refined over the years.

I'll second Hydro's suggestion that you should go for formers first. In fact, once I have the tech, the first build for new bases is almost always a former (rushed, if possible).

[CEO Aaron]

The problem with delaying formers for that long is that you won't have anything really worth crawling when you've built them. Besides, that early in the game, founding new bases is a much better way to boost the industrial capacity of your faction. A colony pod and a crawler both cost 3 rows. But a crawler will only get 2 of any single FOP. A new base will produce far more right off the bat, and has the potential to grow even larger.

[Xian]

Originally posted by BlackCat
Well, blind research has a certain resemblance to what happens in the other realm (some seems to call it real life)

Not really. Every modern (past 400 years or so) technological advance in human history was done by government sponsored funding of focused, directed areas of understanding. The way non-blind research is modeled is much closer to what goes on in real life than blind research.

[FullMetalJack]

Originally posted by Samson2
Thanks for the help. The tech tree sort of helps, but it is kind of unreadable. The reasorce yealds spread sheet from the same page is absolotly vital though...

If you try and use those SMAC or SMAX tech trees 'directly' i.e. using Adobe reader or Powerpoint, yes, they are pretty much useless as you need to zoom in quite close before they're readable on a monitor. Also, by zooming, you lose the overview of the tech tree! That's the weakness of the in game F2 datalinks too.

However, if you print them out they're perfectly readable on an A4 piece of paper and much more convenient than the original printed tech trees supplied with the game.

I use a piece of A4 sized cardboard and put that and the tech tree print-out inside one of those transparent document sheets. Pretty much couldn't be bettered really.

[CEO Aaron]

Not really. Every modern (past 400 years or so) technological advance in human history was done by government sponsored funding of focused, directed areas of understanding. The way non-blind research is modeled is much closer to what goes on in real life than blind research.

Yes and no. True discovery has no agenda, however APPLIED science, which is the business end of technology, is heavily funded by both the public and private sectors. But my issue is never realism. It's a science fiction game. Realism left the building when we blasted off into space to settle other planets.

My issue is about accessibility and gameplay. And I don't think blind research really is an improvement on gameplay. Even if you use blind research, you can still game the tech tree by nudging it toward techs you want. In fact, doing so is arguably even more important in a blind game than tech beelining is in a non-blind game. At the end of the day, going blind just makes it harder for a new player to figure out what's going on. Sure, someone with no interest in becoming a better player can stab techs at random and push their hapless units across the board and still crush the AI at the lower difficulties, but that's not going to engage anyone, is it?

And this completely sidesteps the problem of getting shampooed because you couldn't pick up centauri ecology for 40 turns.

For the record, I keep meaning to have my SMAX tech tree framed and hang it behind my computer. Yes, I'm a big geek.

[Mead]

Originally posted by Petek

***
I'll second Hydro's suggestion that you should go for formers first. In fact, once I have the tech, the first build for new bases is almost always a former (rushed, if possible).

Yep, that's pretty standard; former followed by whatever depending upon your situation and SE settings.


Mead

[CEO Aaron]

Unless you're rolling Morgan, in which case I like to instabuild my recycling tanks first, or recreation commons if I'm over the drone limit. In fact, midgame expansion for me often has formers, garrisons and a crawler or two rolled out to the new base to help lever it up fast.

But early on, there's nothing that gives as much return on investment than a terraformer. Well, Colony pods, but they're limited by available population. Bottom line: formers should be your first, or at latest, your second tech in a directed research game.

[Darrell01]

Yeah, I'm always appalled that some faction like the Hive, Spartans, or Believers do not have Centauri Ecology till way late. If they don't have a tech to send to me, I will give them it jsut so I can have a few trees when I take them over.

[Hydro]

I don’t' feel sorry for them at all. They are focusing on other things - namely, having my blood mingle with the soil near where I used to live. Also, they have their own bonuses to counter any research or development issues.

One of the problems I've seen with other games (board and PC) is that the devs try to make it 'fair' for each entity/faction. What they inevitably get are indistinguishable clones whose only real difference is in the pictures or images. The SMAC factions have real differences and, as a result, they play differently.

Hydro

[Verrucosus]

I think the lack of Centauri Ecology is more an AI problem than a consequence of Blind Research. I play "Blind Research" most of the time and (unless I try for Secrets of the Human Brain and its bonus tech) I always use an explore-only focus at the beginning of the game because I know that formers are important. I cannot remember a game with that focus in which I didn't get Centauri Ecology first.

As an AI problem it is, as Hydro pointed out, one of those that seems to come from the AI "staying in character" and following its programmed priorities. (A similar issue is Morgan always choosing Free Market despite being the only guy who can get +1 energy/square through Wealth alone.) If that's stupidity it's one inherent in their ideology. I like that and so I don't play with randomized priorities a lot.

I wonder why Miriam can often be found without formers despite her explore/conquest priority.

Verrucosus

[CEO Aaron]

Originally posted by Hydro
I don’t' feel sorry for them at all. They are focusing on other things - namely, having my blood mingle with the soil near where I used to live. Also, they have their own bonuses to counter any research or development issues.

One of the problems I've seen with other games (board and PC) is that the devs try to make it 'fair' for each entity/faction. What they inevitably get are indistinguishable clones whose only real difference is in the pictures or images. The SMAC factions have real differences and, as a result, they play differently.

Hydro

Seconded. Balance is an ideal, but homogenity shouldn't be the result of your balancing efforts. Even in chess, white has to play a different game than black.

[CEO Aaron]

If you ask me, Terraformers should be part of the base things you can build without any technology. They're simply so important to the long-term growth of your faction.

[Straybow]

Yeah. "I'm sorry, we've forgotten how to build a road. Please research this mysterious technology."

Kinda silly.

[Commy]

Well, look on the bright side...it could be like Civ 4, where you have to research each individual terraforming improvement.