"Wishing you were somehow here again."

[Sarxis]

I don't know why.. but maybe it is the winter season or just plain missing the gaming greatness, but I have been wanting to play some AC/AX today.

Only problem? I don't have the game discs anymore (

So now I'll have to hunt them down. But yeah.. for whatever reason when it gets close to the winter Holidays, I get the AC itch.

[waab]

Why don't you have the disc anymore?

[BlackCat]

Next time you should select a bank with a better security system to protect your SMAC/X CD's

[Mart]

smac should be obtainable in some collection for small price

[Sarxis]

I went through a 'cleansing' of the games a while back. I was playing so much SMAX, I thought it time to move on.

Problem is.. it is difficult to let go of a great game forever.

So.. I have managed to acquire the games.. once... again!! MWuahahah!

Planet! Here I come

[Sarxis]

Ok, so I got it working no problem. Funny enough, it even worked on my XP machine without forcing the old voxel algorithm in the .ini file. Go figure.

But now.. I am challenged to recreate a mod I made that rebalanced some of the techs (pushing copters later, tanks earlier; also increasing the artillery ratio to make them really punch, and a few other things.. ).

I wish I had my old alphax.txt file for this! however, I will instead get to rediscover all the intricate workings of the game

This should be quite fun! I am looking forward to this.. and who knows? Maybe there's someone out there who would like to play some pbem with my rebalance mod.

[vyeh]

If you post your progress in recreating the mod in the AC Creation forum,

http://www.apolyton.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=24

I'd be interested in reading them. (And if you post your alphax.txt, you need not worry about losing it if you go through another cleansing and re-itching.

[Sarxis]

I did post it back in 2001 or 2002? But unfortunately, I linked it from my old ISP web space, so it was no longer valid. I found an old backup CD I burned with it on it, but had to get some CD repair software to fix the file (which I have done).

So now, I need to just go through the alphax.txt and review my changes, and start playing. It was a long time ago when I made the changes, so I want to use my years of wisdom since then to refine the mod :P

I'll probably link it soon, and then think about new changes and any fixes I can find.

[vyeh]

Originally posted by Sarxis
So now, I need to just go through the alphax.txt and review my changes, and start playing.

It is great that you found your old alphax.txt.

[Sarxis]

Yes, quite advantageous since I really didn't remember all the changes I had made. I d/led a file comparing program too so I could actually go through the vanilla alphax.txt and see exactly what I had changed.

Disabled Repair Bays completely. Roads give 4 movement, because I personally always play on the largest maps. Mines also do not take away food production (what is the point of that? I don't like taking away production options as a general rule).

Basically, a few things, such as upping artillery damage, changing quantum engines in the tech tree so they'd be paced better in between fusion and singularity engines. I also pushed some of the mineral facilities sooner in the tech tree a bit, and moved probes a little later (like spies tend to be in most CIV games).

Hmm.. what else.. You'll get hover tanks before copters now, and copters come later and have a lower starting movement total (which increases with the later engines, so it balances them).

A few combat related things too (bonuses for attacking at altitude, along roads, reinstated) being tweaked also. A few other facilities coming in at slightly different points on the tech tree, just to keep things flowing into the end game better..

Also, I think I did modify the Data Angels at one point too, which of course isn't done with alphax. I think I take away their extra probe point and give them even cheaper probe costs, and maybe something else, but I don't remember. I think I changed Cha Dawn in some way too, because he always seemed weak to me, but I don't know.

Oh, and as a recent addition, I increased max population of bases to 10/21 with hab complexes, domes, etc. This gets the early game a bit more cranked up, and I want to see how this effects things. I also made even size one bases able to use specialists, as, like I stated, I hate taking options away from the player.

I can't say how the AI reacts to any of the changes, though I have never seen obtuse behaviour "yet" because of the modifications. And I know for certain I haven't covered all the tweaks. NOTHING is changed in any of the core game rules, techs, units (oh except I also made Plasma Shard rate at 14 instead of 13; I never understood the point of the rating skip from 12, to 13, then to 16??).

If you guys know of any AI or faction improvements that have been made over the years, let me know. I am always looking to improve the game. I am still amazed at how absolutely incredible and addictive AC is compared to other CIV games!

[Sarxis]

Here are the modded files for Alien Crossfire (I only play AX these days). I've also included an updated conceptsx.txt file to represent the changes.

Check it out if you like.. some of the facilities and chassis have been modified to come at different points on the tech tree. Also, there are a few of the basic game mechanics changed, but nothing 'extremely' so.

Let me know what you think, or any suggestions.

http://apolyton.net/upload/view/3758_alphax.txt

http://apolyton.net/upload/view/3758_conceptsx.txt

Right click and 'save as' to get the text formatted correctly. The files, of course, have had numbers appended to them due to being uploaded to Apolyton's user storage.

[Darsnan]

Originally posted by Sarxis
Here are the modded files for Alien Crossfire (I only play AX these days). Check it out if you like.. some of the facilities and chassis have been modified to come at different points on the tech tree. Also, there are a few of the basic game mechanics changed, but nothing 'extremely' so.

Let me know what you think, or any suggestions.

Some comments/ feedback/ questions:

4, ; Movement rate along roads

Why change it to 4?

5,2 ; Numerator & Denominator for artillery fire damage

Heavier arty damage is better, as the AI utilizes it well!

10, ; Max airdrop range w/o orbital insertion

I usually decrease airdrop range, as the AI doesn't use airdrops well (i.e. greater airdrop distances benefit the human more than the AI)

10, ; Population limit w/o hab complex

Why increase it to 10?

100, ; Combat % -> AAA bonus vs. air units

Has anyone tried upping this to 150, or more?

10, ; Minerals for harvesting forest

Does the AI use this?

Thermal Borehole, EcoEng, Thermal Borehole, Disable, 24, Construct $STR0, B, Shift+B

I usually up this to 40, as the human players are the only ones to build boreholes.

Fungal Tower, Gravship, Psi, Psi, 3, 0, 0, Disable, 1, 00000000000000000000000000

Giving the Fungal Tower a gravship chassis means they won't drown once global warming occurs (and teraformers can't drown them, either)


Some additional units you may find enjoyable:

Probe Cruiser, Cruiser, Probe Team, Scout, 11, 0, 0, DocInit, -1, 00000000000000000000000000

Googlie's Probe Cruiser: makes human SP players have to think about coastal probe protection

Attack Submarine, Crusier, Gatling, Scout, 6, 3, 0, Super, -1, 0010000000000000000001000000

This unit benefits the AI. Note the decreased mineral cost.

SP-88, Speeder, Missile, 3-Res, 0, 3, 0, Fossil, -1, 00000000000000000000100000

An early counter to aircraft: this unit assists the AI significantly in this regard.

Probe Bug, Hovertank, Probe Team, Psi, 11, 4, 0, MindMac, -1, 00000000000000000000100100

This is more of a masochistic unit. On a small map it is way overpowered. On a large or huge it makes human players lives "interesting", as well as extending the competitive lifespan of some AIs.

Also replacing a Battle Ogre Mk2 with the following:

Attack Hovertank, Hovertank, Shard, Psi, -1, 4, 0, MindMac, -1, 00000000000001001000100100

It can't be healed, which adds an interesting dynamic. And if you give it a clean reactor then that benefits the AI even moreso!


D

[Sarxis]

Increasing the population sizes was mostly me just wanting to get cities bigger slightly quicker. The human player can usually pop-boom well, and giving cities bigger initial sizes seems like it would even things out a little bit, and also get the game rolling better.

Originally posted by Darsnan


Some comments/ feedback/ questions:



Why change it to 4?

I tend to play on huge maps, and sometimes custom large sizes. Since the AI also uses roads, it seemed to get things moving a bit quicker once road networks are established. It also essential makes movement penalties for combat a bit less restrictive based on road-movement.

I usually decrease airdrop range, as the AI doesn't use airdrops well (i.e. greater airdrop distances benefit the human more than the AI)



Why increase it to 10?

Again, because of my preference to large maps, I hate being restricted to small drop distances. I also upped the distance at which borders are drawn for the same reason - to keep things a bit more spaced. But for the record, the AI does use drops fairly well if you have an empty base and they have a unit in range (as I found to be true in my last game).

Giving the Fungal Tower a gravship chassis means they won't drown once global warming occurs (and teraformers can't drown them, either)


Some additional units you may find enjoyable:

These are very good suggestions and I want to incorporate them into my game

Some of the changes weren't made with strict regard to the AI's ability to use them. So after some testing, things may need a bit of reconsideration especially for singleplay.

[Flubber]

Intersting ideas here

I don't fiddle with the units/files myself but I have always loved playing around with the units Darsnan creates

Darsnan

I just finished playing a Spartan scenario where you start in the upper right corner and have to work your way across the globe between alternating strips of land and sea (each with a different AI occupant of course) uintil you finally take on the consciousness IIRC0

Was that one yours? here were a lot of units that were of you invention in it anyway!! Because it had an interceptor unit with resonance armour that was just hell to kill- If I attacked a base with an elite blink-wave gravship with the dream twister and a+5 Planet rating, it still seemed to eat my unit for lunch. Ground units did much better against it but I still think I was missing something why it killed air units so easily


In the end I used artillery and genetic atrocities to weaken defenders to finish those things off. It seemed like all the other units I could find counters to but that interceptor (<12>-r-??) was hell.

[Darsnan]

Originally posted by Flubber
Darsnan
I just finished playing a Spartan scenario where you start in the upper right corner and have to work your way across the globe between alternating strips of land and sea (each with a different AI occupant of course) uintil you finally take on the consciousness IIRC0

Was that one yours?

Yes. Its "Lilith - a wolf in the fold" which is stickied at the top of this forum.

Originally posted by Flubber
There were a lot of units that were of you invention in it anyway!! Because it had an interceptor unit with resonance armour that was just hell to kill- If I attacked a base with an elite blink-wave gravship with the dream twister and a+5 Planet rating, it still seemed to eat my unit for lunch.

Yeah, that was a good one. Still would love to get the AI to use a/c more effectively, though.


D