What Is Your Favorite Faction, And Why?

[vyeh]

Are you basing your assessment of Economy above +2 on experience or on the manual. I believe the manual understates Economy +3. +4 and +5.

[RJPugh]

I've often played as Gaia. I like the eco-friendly stuff, and the fact that the locals are easier to deal with. Early in the game, keeping the mindworms at bay is a big deal.

I've also played as Miriam, though. Sure, she's a bit... intense, but that's the point. Sometimes it's just fun to play the bad guy. (Or girl in this case.) Oddly enough, I've never had much luck playing Yang; everyone tends to gang up on him fairly early.

Currently I'm playing Celeste Running Elk. She runs a custom faction I found on this web site, the Dreamers of Earth, loosely based on the American Indians. They like to terraform; lots of formers at the starting gate. I customized the faction a little, mostly the graphics and city names, but in terms of game mechanics I'm using them exactly the way they were when I downloaded them. And thus far, I like this faction. But then I've always enjoyed terraforming.

[GooglyBoogly]

Are you basing your assessment of Economy above +2 on experience or on the manual. I believe the manual understates Economy +3. +4 and +5.

Even in-game, the Society screen and the datalinks give incorrect information in regards to ECON 3+.

From my Comprehensive datalinks update (see sig) changelog:

#HELPEFFECT0 Econ 3 gives +2 energy/base as well, econ 4 gives another +2/base So Econ3,4 actually = econ 4/5

[Qualicide]

My first game was the gaians, and I still like them the most today. Now that I have a firm grasp on how to maximize my empire I feel they are the most powerful faction as well, early game mindworm farming turns you into an economic and military powerhouse that can dominate the entire game. Locusts of chiron breaking some rules about air units is also very handy when it comes to large maps

[dididave]

Gaian's for me too, bit rubbish in terms of technology advancement but you can get round this with the right social engineering and research later on. The ability to get an army of mindworms etc make them the most fun for me. On traditional planet I reckon they get the best starting location too.

[Marchantbard]

I've only been playing since this March (when a fanfic writer I read started a "Battlestar Galactica2003/Alpha Centauri" story). I'd actually had a copy of SMAC in my closet since around 2000, as part of a four-game pack, but was simply too intimidated by the reported scope and scale of it to try it out.

I can safely say that I've played it literally every day since then for a minimum of an hour, and a maximum (thus far) of four hours continuously.

In that time I've played a grand total of five factions all the way through, most up to the Librarian level. I'm just starting to play at Thinker:

*Gaia's Stepdaughters: my first and semi-favorite faction. Good SE advantages balanced with equally serious shortcomings.
*The Peacekepers: my current favorite, primarily because they grow fast (even while I'm playing Democracy/Green), don't have to worry about Drones for a bit, and can vote my way to dominance.
*The Cult of Planet: these were the guys that prompted me to search out a copy of SMAX (I now have two: an original release, and the Sold-Out rerelease); while the Industry and Economy penalties make it hard to keep up, the high Planet rating and using Directed Research generally assures me a decent-sized worm army to pod-pop with.

I've started branching out to include:
*The Data Angels: I've only played one game with them so far, and didn't deploy a Probe Team into my opponents even once. I'm now agnostic on these guys.
*The Free Drones: Only one game, and the Research penalty wasn't nearly as debilitating as I'd feared, especially once I had a lot of Network Nodes running. And darned if it wasn't fun completely overrunning the Hive in just 10 years.

I'm resolved I can't play the Spartans, the Believers, Morgan, the Hive, either of the Progenitors, or the Cyborgs. I literally don't have the mindset to play to their respective strengths. I started a game once with the Pirates, but couldn't finish it for various reasons.

Guess I should try again and see what the hubbub is about.

[BlackCat]

I can safely say that I've played it literally every day since then for a minimum of an hour, and a maximum (thus far) of four hours continuously.

Worry, it gets worse

Btw, welcome

[Brett Moan]

Be afriad be very afraid

Worry, it gets worse

it gets way way worse

Theres a reason why the game is called SMAC...K

[Marchantbard]

it gets way way worse

Theres a reason why the game is called SMAC...K

Tell me about it! I had a volcano erupt on me last night, which created a ten-year dust cloud across the whole of Planet *and* reduce the population of the three bases near it from 15-22 down to 4-10. This came on top of both the Hive and Spartans declaring vendetta on me; luckily for my Peacekeepers we completed the Ascent to Transcendence project just 4 turns later.

What ticks me off is that the eruption made the whole damned island surface rocky. It'd take at least forty years to just level it all so I could re-plant all my forests.

I shudder to think what kind of horrors SMAX has in store.

[CEO Aaron]

Yeah, every so often the random number generator will hit you with a doozy. I remember one game where my capital (with all my secret projects) was struck by a meteor. Bad times.

[Brett Moan]

mad move to have ALL your secret projects at one place

[CEO Aaron]

Well, I don't anymore, for that reason and others.

[Marchantbard]

Yeah, every so often the random number generator will hit you with a doozy. I remember one game where my capital (with all my secret projects) was struck by a meteor. Bad times.

Wait wait wait wait! There's really a "meteor strike" event?

Frak. Just when I thought I had it all figured out.

[CEO Aaron]

Yep. And your booby prize for your city being wiped off the map? A second Garland Crater.

[Marchantbard]

Yep. And your booby prize for your city being wiped off the map? A second Garland Crater.

I realize this is wandering a bit off the original topic, but is there a comprehensive list of these "random" events? I'd like to be able to do some contingency planning.