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**Darsnan** · July 14, 2008, 17:54

Hi StealthKab,

typically the University is the best Faction to start out with. The best way to immerse yourself into the game is to start a game (as the Uni's), and once you land on Planet press the F1 key to bring up the Datalinks. Once in the Datalinks review the Faction profiles (usually one of the Factions strengths and weaknesses will catch your fancy, and you'll tend to gravitate towards them in time): note which Factions are polar opposites, and be aware of this when entering diplomatic negotiations with that Faction(example: the Uni's opposite is the Believers, and they will easily go to war with the Unis), and then the general terms.

Once your done reviewing the Datalinks start playing the game. Once you've researched a technology review what your next research options are, and determine what is best for your Faction (in time you'll figure out what the best technology beelines are). Also everytime you research a tech you get a message box stating what all the tech enables: review each of the items, and think about if they are things you need immediately or not, and if and when you should build them.
Once you start playing you'll probably get more questions. Just post them here, and people will usually be able to answer them.

Good Luck!

D

**vyeh** · July 14, 2008, 18:17

I would start with the Peacekeepers. They have the least factional characteristics.

We started a demogame a month and a half ago with a faction that has no factional characteristics.

We've only played 7 turns. You're welcome to join the game. If you wish to observe, feel free to post questions and comments at the end of the utility thread.

**StealthKab** · July 14, 2008, 18:19

You're right, I do have more questions. I'm leaning towards Morgan Industries. Mainly because I'm reading Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged right now.

Basically, what units should I start out with? In Civ2, I usually build a defensive unit and then a settler to build improvements to the area. But it works a little differently in AC. Also, city spacing. I was never good at this in Civ2 (only in CivRev, which I recently got). But I've read a few posts that seem to say that build new cities around 4 or so squares from each other. Really, I'm looking for generally things I should do for my first few moves (assuming I'm Morgan Industries that is).

**vyeh** · July 14, 2008, 19:38

(1) In AC, the settler is divided into two units: the colony pod, which is used to found new bases and the former, which improves land. To build the former, you need to have researched Centauri Ecology.

Morgan's bases are limited to population 4. If the base already has access to a 2 nutrient square, it may be more important to build a colony pod after you have the defensive unit than the former.

Morgan gets bonuses for treaties and pacts. Sending out scouts to contact the other factions and establish diplomatic relations is also important.

Since Morgan's bases are initially small, tight spacing is not a problem initially.

Morgan also starts with an initial 100 energy credits. You can use them to rush build some facilities or units.

Depending on your situation, you might follow this approach:

(1) Your initial build will be a Synthmetal Garrison (1-2-1) (Morgan starts with the ability to build armor 2).

(2) Your initial research is Centauri Ecology.

(3) Your second build is a former, which you will rush as soon as you accumulate 10 minerals (it cost double to rush below 10).

(4) Your next build is a colony pod.

**StealthKab** · July 14, 2008, 20:06

OK, I've played a little bit and understand a little more. I get the colony pod and former differences now. What troubles me is the terrain. Meaning, those xenofungus is hard to move through and I get nutrients? from them. Gaians get more, I believe. But they seem like a hassle because they spawn worms and make it tough to move quickly. So should I usually get rid of them. Also, Building things in the right place is a bit more difficult than I remember it in Civ2. Things like new cities and improvements. Obviously, you can't really go wrong with building roads, but the farms, solar collectors, mines, boreholes, forests, etc are a little confusing. I get the greener the square, the more nutrients I'm getting, and the higher the square the more energy it'll make, and the rockier the square more production.

I've read the manual and all, but it's not really specific enough IMO.

Edit: Okay, here's a quick run through of my first real game. It was a disaster. After Planetfall (as Morgan) I built the 1-2-1 unitas defense and started the Former. Got that built and who do I run into about 3 square away from my HQ? Freakin' Yang (playing on the standard Planet map). He bullies me and I say no, so he destroys my Former and tells me he has some 2-2-1 unit. I build it and have it go turn some areas into farms and solar collectors. Right when those get down Yang sets down a city right next to that square and his border take it over. I built a Colony Pod and went to make a new city and it gets jumped by mind worms, causing me to have to build another one. Meanwhile, I try to take out his new city, which ends in my only offensive unit being killed off. That sucked. After all of these disasters I figured I better start over on a new game.

**Petek** · July 14, 2008, 21:03

Hi StealthKab,

Welcome to the forum!

As you discover certain techs, the xenofungus yields additional nuts, mins and energy. However, it takes a long time before xenofungus is useful to work. Here's how I terraform each base:

(Note: nuts = nutrients and mins = minerals.)

* First priority is to have a square that produces at least two nuts. This allows a base to grow quickly to size 2 so that it can produce a Colony Pod without having to abandon the base. (Doesn't apply at lower difficulty levels.)

* Next, build a road on a flat square. This takes only one turn and helps to connect your bases. Best choice is a flat arid square, because ...

* Then plant a forest on the roaded square. Since a forest produces 1 nut, 2 mins and 1 energy, no matter what the underlying square (some exceptions apply), you get the same result on an arid square as just about anything else. A nut special is also a nice place to plant a forest in the early game.

At this point, you'll have one square producing at least 2 nuts and another producing at least 2 mins. That's good for the early game.

Your former can now help build a road network, or improve some other base.

Another important point to remember when terraforming is that, with certain exceptions described below, no square can supply more that 2 factors of production (FOPs) of nuts, mins or energy until after certain techs a researched. So, there's not much point in building a farm on a rainy square early on, since you'll not get additional nuts. The main exception is that squares with special resources are not limited by the FOP restrictions. (Example: a square with a nut special can produce more than 2 nuts, even pre-Gene Splicing)

As mentioned above, Gene Splicing lifts nut restrictions. Also, Ecological Engineering lifts min restictions and Environmental Economics lifts energy restrictions.

If you're in doubt about how to improve a square, forests are usually a good choice: They spread on their own and increase in value as the game progresses.

This page contains a nice article on terraforming, plus other basic information.

Petek

**StealthKab** · July 14, 2008, 23:18

I see, that explaination makes a lot of sense. I think I get it somewhat. I read somewhere that it's a good idea to build a sensor pod on a square you plan on making a base because of the defense upgrade.

Anyway, I started another game and it went a little better. I didn't play it all the way through because I just wanna learn before I go into it for real. I managed to build 2 other bases that were about 4 square from the HQ (I was Morgan again and I figured overlapping isn't a problem because they have low population). Played the standard Planet map again and ended up getting boxed in by the Peacekeepers north, Gaians in the west, and Spartans to the east. South was ocean. I ended up being able to build up those cities fairly well and my research was going at a decent speed. I built the Human Genome Project and that Market-whatever SPs. For some reason the Spartans wanted to fight and I couldn't really counterattack, but I could hold my defenses. It was basically a stalemate. My best unit was a 4-3-1 infantry guy...I'm not good with the names of things in the game yet.

After that experience I have a few more questions now. One involves the government/social engineering types. I ended up with Fundamentalism and Free Market because those seemed the best at the time. Was that the right idea with Morgan? I had like 2800 energy went I resigned. The other question is how often should I expand? I didn't build too many bases because I didn't want to have to stretch myself too thinly, and basically because the other factions beat me to it and boxed me in. Like how many bases should I have by what year?

**vyeh** · July 15, 2008, 02:51

(1) Xenofungus - basically it is a nuisance unless you are playing a "native" strategy. In this strategy you pursue the "Centauri" techs. Successive techs allow greater production from fungus (more nuts, mins or energy) and to build native life, which you would control. You want to boost your planet ratings so you increase your chance of capturing native life. Under these circumstances, fungus is your friend. It becomes highways for your native lifeforms and they get advantages if they are attacked in fungus.

(2) Terraforming - Overall, your faction has to balance nutrients, minerals and energy. As Petek has stated, forests are good for arid squares early on. I look for squares with bonuses.

(3) Sensor arrays - You can't improve a base square once there is a base and most improvements don't survive the base being formed. A sensor array is one of the exceptions. Unlike a sensor array outside the base, it can't be destroyed by enemy action. Since a sensor array gives a combat advantage, it is a good thing to have.

(4) 4-3-1 has the best attack/defense that you can achieve in the early game. In terms of defense, note that your formers can increase the defense of a unit by building a forest under it!

(5) Against the Spartans, you shouldn't expect to win wars by conventional means. Have you started playing with probe units? They are early units (require Planetary Networks, which requires Information Networks, which is a beginning tech). Because Morgan makes lots and lots of energy credits, Morgan can afford probe team actions. You can acquire solitary units (so the Spartan unit is now your unit), you can sabotage Spartan base production or facilities, you can even acquire a Spartan base (as long as it is not the HQ). Start playing around with probe units.

(6) Social Engineering = it depends on what you are trying to achieve. Getting an Economy rating of +2 is an important goal of some players, because every square that is worked gets an extra +1 energy. Since Morgan starts with +1 economy, all Morgan needs to get to +2 is Wealth. Popbooming is considered important. In Civ 2, you needed a Golden Age. In AC, you need +6 Growth. Most players go for Democratic and Planned (both give +2 Growth) and build Children's Creches in their bases for the final +2.

(7) Fundamentalism would make sense if you were engaged in a lot of probe actions or if you were fighting (because it gives a +1 morale). Free Market was probably not your best choice. Morgan already has +1 economy. Wealth would bring it up to +2.

(8) Unused energy credits - The 2800 energy credits doesn't do any good in your account unless you were going for an economic victory. You should have used it to (a) rush units and facilities, (b) probe actions, or (c) raise a lot of terrain for an energy park.

(9) Number of bases - Ideally, every square within your territory should either be worked from a base or have a supply crawler convoying nuts, mins or energy. If you are being boxed in, consider building bases between existing bases (you can have bases as little as 2 spaces apart) or building sea bases. Also consider sending colony pods on transports to islands and other continents. You might consider a strategy of sending colony pods out to grab as much territory as possible and then plant colonies behind the frontier bases.

**gwillybj** · July 15, 2008, 10:06

Apolyton Civilization Site

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7944

Vel’s SMAC Guide (Version 2.0) By: Chris Hartpence (a.k.a. Velociryx)

**StealthKab** · July 15, 2008, 17:34

Yeah, I built Probe Teams, but they kept getting intercepted by the Spartans. I was never good with the Spies in Civ2 either. I knew I had too much money just doing nothing, but I wasn't sure what to use it for. The reason was because when I went to build Nano Labs or Command Centers, they generally only took anywhere from 2 to 7 turns and I figured why waste the money. In all of my bases I had Command Centers, Perimeter Defenses, Children Creches, Nano Labs, and Hab Complexes (I see those are important to Morgan). Along with a few others depending on what was needed because of where the base was.

As a side note, what really impresses me in this game is that even though your units may become old and weak over time, you're given a great amount of freedom in actually designing a unit to a specific job. I find some times it's cheaper and faster to build a unit of 4-1-1 and a 1-3-1 than a single 4-3-1. You can use those two units for much more than just the one, and it's not a killer to have one of them die than it would be for the 4-3-1 in some freak worm attack or something. BTW, what's a good ratio of Formers to have? I think had the highest, I had 4 Formers roaming around to my 3 bases.

P.S. I don't like the Spartans. They're mean. Also, is it a good idea to loan money to people? Seeing as I have a large amount sitting around, wouldn't it be better to loan it to a stable, friendly faction (Peacekeepers or Gaians) and just have it earn me more money in the long run? Everyone kept asking me for loans and I ended up giving the Spartans one (bad idea I realized a few turns later when I got into a war with them). Do they repay it when you make peace with them?

Edit: I mean Network Nodes. See, I'm not good with the terms.

**Petek** · July 15, 2008, 19:27

Originally posted by StealthKab
Yeah, I built Probe Teams, but they kept getting intercepted by the Spartans.

The Spartans start with rovers, which makes it easier for them to intercept your probes. You might want to try sending several probes simultaneously against a base. One might get through. You also might want to design Probe Foils (Probe weapon with Foil chassis). They stand a better chance of getting through, especially if the AI hasn't researched Doc:Flex yet.

Also, is it a good idea to loan money to people? Seeing as I have a large amount sitting around, wouldn't it be better to loan it to a stable, friendly faction (Peacekeepers or Gaians) and just have it earn me more money in the long run? Everyone kept asking me for loans and I ended up giving the Spartans one (bad idea I realized a few turns later when I got into a war with them). Do they repay it when you make peace with them?

I seldom make loans. Instead of keeping extra cash around, I prefer either to rush build, or to upgrade older units. However, yes, the AI will resume loans payments when you make peace.

Petek

**vyeh** · July 15, 2008, 21:01

(1) Probe Teams being intercepted by the Spartans - subvert solo units! Instead of thinking of those Spartan units as interceptors, think of them as targets. Consider putting armor on your probe units. Although the probe unit will still be a non-combat unit, it will cost the Spartan unit some hit points to destroy it (as opposed to no cost for an unarmored probe unit).

(2) Energy credits - If you are saving your energy credits for an Economic Victory, I can understand saving energy credits. Otherwise, saving a turn to six turns for a base to build a facility creates "turn advantage." Every turn you accelerate is a turn your base can do something else.

(3) Energy Banks - how come you aren't building energy banks? An energy bank costs 1 energy credit to maintain and increases your energy output by 50%. So if your base is producing more than 2 energy credits, it makes sense to build an energy bank. And if Morgan is in Wealth, then that should be true for all bases.

(4) 4-1-1 - Have you checked on the cost of a 4-2-1 unit? I think it cost the same as a 4-1-1 unit.

(5) With Morgan's -1 support, 1 former per base is good in the early game. As former's can do more and those improvements take more turns, I'll go to two formers or more per base. I like specialized formers, so a speeder former is useful for building roads, since it can move into a flat or rolling square and build a road the same turn. If you have a lot of fungus, a former with the fungicide special ability (and when you can have two special abilities, the superformer ability) can clear fungus quickly. If you are doing a lot of improvements, you might consider formers with the super former ability.

(6) Loans - if making a loan can improve your diplomatic relations with a faction, then it might make sense. Otherwise, like Petek, I can find better investments than making loans.

What difficulty level are you playing at?

Are you still playing the standard size map of the planet?

**StealthKab** · July 15, 2008, 22:34

The games I've described have been in standard Planet maps on the second difficulty, Specialist I think. And I DO build Energy Banks, I just forgot to mention them. I figured they are very good for Morgan. I generally build most of the buildings I can if I don't need specific units or a Secret Project. I recently played another game on a random large map and did fairly well. Yang and Lal were kind warlike and I sorta got boxed in again, but managed to Probe Team one of the Peacekeeper's bases and flipped it to me. Didn't realize that started a war. I thought it was a little more subtle. Oh, and the Believers were gobbling up territory like crazy. Took out the Gaian's and half of Peacekeepers.

Anyway, the newest question I have now is how to you keep your borders secure. I mean not having every damn faction doing whatever they want in your territory? I didn't have sensor arrays in the interior, so it was hard keeping track of their movements. I suppose I can place units all over the border, but that eats up a lot of minerals, especially if you have wide borders. Yang and Lal kept coming into my territory to fight each other...which was fine by me, as I was at war with them both at different times.

**vyeh** · July 16, 2008, 00:39

(1) I believe you can try for total thought control and have your probe actions not lead to vendetta. Note that total thought control has a lesser chance of success.

(2) If you have a truce or treaty, you can demand the other faction withdraw from your territory. Of course, that could lead to vendetta ... Because Morgan has -1 support, you have to be a little more thoughtful about stationing units at your borders.
(a) You could try to find chokepoints and put a garrison unit or a base there.
(b) Crawlers do not require support. You could line your border with armored crawlers. If the AI isn't inclined to start a vendetta, that will keep those units from wandering in.
(c) Once you've acquired the "clean" special ability, you can create units that don't require support.
(d) The Prima Strategy Guide suggest using formers to raise terrain. If you raise a ridge, the western side will be green and the eastern side will be barren.
(e) You could also plant a lot of forests, or, better yet, fungus to discourage movement.

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