Altera Centauri: The SMAC/X Scenario Repository

[Darsnan]

Scenario Name: Hobbes' Challenge
SMAC/ SMAX: SMAX
Author: Hobbes
Date of original posting: 1/4/04
Original host site: Civilization Gaming Network

A little scenario I played with over the holiday break. You play Svensgaard vs Miriam. Aim is fastest (and most efficient) conquest. The scenario is quite advanced in tech. Miriam is programmed to play quite defensively but is still lots of fun. Watch out for her trying to win by cornering the energy market or by PB'ing you into oblivion.

Enjoy.

Hobbes

[Darsnan]

Scenario Name: Alien War
SMAC/ SMAX: SMAX
Author: mart7x5
Date of original posting: 10/1/04
Original host site: Civilization Gaming Network

Hi,
The last scenario I created is "Alien War" and is made using tips from SMAC Academy and also some other experiences. I have already playtested it like over 10 times for the first game years. Everything looks to proceed as planned, but how situation will develop later is still unknown. So that would be a test. It is a scenario, so anyone interested would have to unzip it to "Scenario" folder in the root game directory, and start playing it from option "Play Scenario".

a note:
there is a separate alphax.txt file in which I have removed some bugs according to SMAC Acadamey. Heavy transport is enabled, just to allow for higher variety of transport units and better use of land transports (if anyone uses them). This alphax.txt should remain in "Alien War" scenarion folder. Game when playing scenario chooses it over that one from root directory.
-----------------------------
You play Spartans
Transcend level
64x128 map size
All victory conditions, but highest score wins.
Tech stagnation
No random events
No spoils of war
Directed research
Iron Man

And this is for your AlphaCentauri.ini:

Faction 1=CARETAKE
Faction 2=USURPER
Faction 3=PEACE
Faction 4=UNIV
Faction 5=GAIANS
Faction 6=MORGAN
Faction 7=SPARTANS

-------------------
The story:

On Earth you were a military officer, and when United Nations offered you membership in planned expedition to Alpha Centauri as Security Commander you decided to join. Flight was not succesful in its last stage and the starship "Unity" crashed on Chiron, the only habitable planet in the star system. Several escape pods landed scattered over the nearby region. Since many crew members survived, it would appear that the future of the mission is secured. Unfortunately, one year after the planetfall things look even worse. A distinct division between U.N. mission leaders emerged. Commisioner Pravin Lal frustrated with actions of other leaders and their apparent will to proceed with their own agendas adapted doctrine of strong rule over the mission. He secured support of Lady Deirdre Sky for himself, but failed to do it with science officer, Provost Zakharov and CEO Nwabudike Morgan. Zakharov decided to resist Pravin Lal, and created strong alliance with CEO Morgan.

You found yourself in an extremely difficult position, between two groups fiercely opposed each other and almost ready for war. Recently, Pravin Lal created a defensive perimeter around the main base, his U.N. Headquarters. On top of that there is a report that just before the crash of the "Unity", the starship recorded an activity on the planet, which was most likely of an alien origin. However, this report is being neglected by the other leaders. They are too occupied with their personal quarrels.

You realize, that the mission is about to fail. You have talked to your subordinates, and you know that many of them sympathise strongly with either one or the other side. If you join one side, the military will be fragmented too. You decide that the only possible way to save the mission is to stay neutral. You gather the most loyal to you military officers and troops and depart the human colony bases heading east. You cross high mountain range dividing the continent and travelling across the desert you reach eastern coast.

You know that your recent departure from the colony was not welcomed by Pravin Lal, Provost Zakharov and CEO Morgan. However, judgeing from your last conversation with Lady Deirdre, you conclude that she understood your position and perhaps you may count for her support in difficult times.

The year is 2101.
Will you be succesful in establishing stable colony?
Will disagreement between mission leaders be settled?
Who are the aliens?
-------------------
Thanks,

mart7x5

[Darsnan]

Scenario Name: On the Horns of a Delimma
SMAC/ SMAX: SMAX
Author: Googlie
Date of original posting: 5/27/04
Original host site: Civilization Gaming Network

The UNS Unity has broken up, and the colonists have landed. But very early on you realize that Planet is endangered.

Two power blocs have emerged:

- the Exploiters, led by CEO Morgan and including his cronies Chairman Yang and Foreman Domai. Their agenda is to create industrial might and wealth at the expense, if necessary, of a seemingly defenceless Planet,

and

- the Researchers, led by Acadamician Zakharov, and including his acolytes Roze and Aki-Zeta 5. Their agenda is to ruthlessly pursue the advance of knowledge through research, and Planet be damned.

Disgusted, you (Lady Deirdre Skye), with a handful of followers escape these two horrific visions of the future and find a distant landmass to settle on, and there found your own faction, styled The Stepdaughters of Gaia

You assembled enough followers and materiel to form 3 colony convoys, and have commissioned 3 scout patrol units. The sole terraformer (that was included in the Unity's cargo) and its crew has also defected with you. Unfortunately, the transport that moved you here was lost during one of Chiron's punishing storms as you were disembarking.

Unfortunately, in escaping, you killed a couple of other factions' followers, so you know that the Drones and the Angels will be out to get you when they find you. But you do have some potential allies still in the other camps.

You summon your chief advisors, and esconsed in your Colony Pod, examine the situation and decide how to make your moves (.zip file attached)

Transcend level, large map about 60% water, all victory conditions activated, directed research, no spoils of war (that's the CyCon's unique ability), random events allowed, Ironman on (to make it more of a hassle to just reload when you pop that sixpack of mindworms)

Enjoy

Googlie

[Darsnan]

Scenario Name: February CGN Challenge
SMAC/ SMAX: SMAX
Author: Darsnan
Date of original posting: 1/28/04
Original host site: Civilization Gaming Network

Backdrop for the February Challenge: by MY 2473, several Factions have established themselves as the dominant forces in the Alpha Centauri solar system. Planet Busters, Drop Units, helicopters armed with Nerve Agent, and growing hordes of native lifeforms make it clear that, with a single spark, Planet could very well go the way of Earth, and erupt into devastating global warfare!
In these most ominous of times, several minor factions discover the wreckage of a Progenitor interstellar spaceship on the farside of Nessus. In utmost secrecy the Factions agree to pool their meager resources and reverse-engineer the alien spaceship, hoping that by using the interstellar drive they can find a new home, free from the dominion of the dominant Factions on Planet.
After much discussion, the Faction leaders agree that their destination is to be an Eden-like planet labeled on the salvaged Progenitor star charts simply as “Colony: Failed”.
By MY 2492, 1,000 years after Columbus made his historic voyage, the spaceship Santa Maria is ready, and the hyperjump is made to the Beta Lyrae solar system.
However, upon arriving in-system, the spaceships sensors indicate that the planet chosen for colonization is not the pristine Garden of Eden listed in the Progenitor database, but an eroded wasteland, showing only brief glimpses of what this planet must once have been like.
Discouraged by this turn of events, a council is called, and it is agreed that another promising solar system is to be chosen for the purpose of colonization.
Just as the Progenitor-cloned hyperdrive is being activated, a strange alien spaceship materializes in the space above you, attacking your spaceship and sending it into a decaying orbit around the planet below, known as Beta Prime.
Now, armed only with what you could hastily salvage from the spaceship, you must begin anew on the former Progenitor colony planet of Beta Prime!



In this Scenario you will play the Pirates, and the objective, as always, is conquest, with the Challenge winner at the end of February being the person who can achieve this in the least amount of turns! Simply unzip the attached file into your Scenarios folder, and then play the game as a Scenario.
Also, since this game is occuring in a different solar system than Alpha Centauri, there are no mindworms, IoD's, Locusts, or the like. Instead I have built a new 8th Faction which I hope you will find "entertaining". I have developped a complete storyline to accompany this new world of Beta Prime, and will start revealling it as reports start trickling back into this thread of what you the players are up against/ have experienced in this Challenge. Also, to spur feedback on this Challenge, I will award 50 RM's to the first person posting something new as far as units, AI strategies, etc., into this thread. If you can post a picture of the event/ unit/ etc. , then that would be even better!
Finally, many thanx to my Beta Tester, Flubber, whose colorful vocabulary in describing his reactions to my creations I have been enjoying the past several weeks!


Welcome, my friends, to Beta Lyrae......

[Darsnan]

Scenario Name: January/ February Hive CGN Challenge
SMAC/ SMAX: SMAX
Author: Darsnan
Date of original posting: 1/6/05
Original host site: Civilization Gaming Network

Prologue

In MY 2105 the First Progenitor Invasion began. Often referred to as “The Great Progenitor War” at the time, the “invasion” actually only consisted of the remnants of two opposing Progenitor Battle Cruisers. For almost 150 years afterward the ragtag human bands fought tooth and nail to survive against the vastly superior Progenitor forces. Finally in MY 2247 the last Progenitor stronghold disappeared in a brilliant fireball caused by the first man-made nuclear explosion on Planet...
In retrospect it can be said that the humans survived the “invasion” not only by their dedicated self-sacrifice, but also by the fact that the Progenitors were just as intent on destroying each other as they were the humans, and only too late realized the threat posed by the human interlopers on Planet.
In MY 2311 the wreckage of a Progenitor spaceship was found by an expedition to the moon Nessus. Although no longer spaceworthy itself, the ships memory banks were still intact, and the humans were able to download the ships star charts, as well as the technologies necessary to build their own interstellar starships.
By the eve of the Second Progenitor Invasion in MY 2446 the humans had spread to many nearby solar systems, and although they were a fractious amalgamation of Factions belonging to a loosely built Federation, the humans had always remained undivided in their mutual support of each other in the face of the threat posed by the Progenitors.
When the first Progenitor scoutships from the Second Invasion fleet appeared on the fringes of human-controlled space, they encountered lightly armed human vessels. Easily overcoming the human ships defenses, they were able to board and capture many of the ships’ crews. However, unbeknownst to the Progenitors these human ships had been specifically staffed with human “volunteers” whose genome had been altered such that if they did not eat a specific diet supplied to them, then within weeks they would start to generate and secrete retroviruses that had been specifically tailored to attack the Progenitor genome. The Progenitor scoutships, their bioscans picking up no pathogens at the time, transported their human captives to their respective motherships for interrogation. By the time the Progenitors realized their mistake, the human Trojan Horse viruses were rampantly running their course amongst the ships of the invasion fleet. The human space assault force, although far outnumbered, were then able to pick their targets at will, bypassing strong healthy ships, while destroying others, and in some cases the human Interstellar Marines were able to board and commandeer several faultering Progenitor ships, turning them against their former masters!
The Second Progenitor Invasion lasted barely 3 months, with the survivors of the Progenitor Invasion Fleet escaping back towards the Galactic Core.
The humans, proud, victorious, gloating, and determined never to have to live under the constant threat of another Progenitor Invasion again, built an armada of their own based upon everything they could glean from the Progenitor ships that had been abandoned in human space. The human attack fleet was launched in MY 2467 with the intent of obliterating the Progenitor Menace once and for all.
The fleet was never heard from again…..
It is now MY 2679, the eve of the 3rd Progenitor Invasion…..


The Recruitment

The Command Center doors opened, and a tall, lean Spartan General entered the room.
The first thing that jumped out at the assembled Hive officers was that almost half of the Spartan’s head was a dull metallic silver, as was his right arm. A cyborg! The other item that quickly caught the Hive officers’ attention was that the Spartan General was wearing the battle decoration for the orbital assault on Sereth 5.3! The room grew tense as the Hive officers collectively recalled this bitter defeat at the hands of their traditional Spartan enemies.
Nevertheless the Spartan General was the senior ranking officer in the room, and the Hive officers as one rose to attention.
“As you were”, the cyborg, bin Kaleel, responded in a guttural machine-like voice as he proceeded to the room’s podium.
General bin Kaleel surveyed the assembled Hive officers. His artificial eye, capable of viewing into the infrared, told him that the Hive officers were seething, and he knew the reason why. Sereth. Bin Kaleel had been instructed to wear the battle decoration prominently, “this will be your opening with them. Win their hearts, and their minds will follow”, the Psych Mullah had instructed.
Bin Kaleel addressed the group, “You may have noticed I am a veteran of the Sereth Drop, “he paused, taking the time to look at all of the young officers in the group before continueing, “I commanded an assault platoon which was involved in some of the heaviest fighting of the campaign. The Hive forces I faced were brave and fought with much valor, and on more than one occasion I was reminded of my own Spartan ancestors at Thermopylae: because no matter what the odds, and no matter how forlorn the situation, the Hive forces continued to fight tenaciously, even in the face of obvious defeat”. General bin Kaleel paused for a long moment, as if completely lost in the events of his youth 30 years ago, before continueing, “and that is why I am here before you now, because of my experiences in combat against you, you have won my respect, and my admiration, as fellow soldiers, and that is why I only applied to Chairman Benediem for volunteers for this mission”. Bin Kaleel again swept the room with his cyborg eye, noting that the mood had changed from barely concealed hatred, to consternation and indecision. Bin Kaleel continued, “I am told by your People’s Army commander General Yin that the number of Hive volunteers for this mission were considerable, and because of this General Yin assures me that she was able to select only the best for this mission“. bin Kaleel raised his cyborg arm and swept the room before him, “ In effect she has stated that you are the best the Hive has to offer, and that is damm good because at this point we need the best to step up, to volunteer, and to deliver us in this hour of need”.
Turning his attention to the holo-projector above him, bin Kaleel sent a neural message dimming the lighting, while at the same time calling up a pre-loaded holo projection of a section of space, “this is the Xi Sector in Human Space, which is humanities furthest ventures towards what is commonly believed to be the core of the Progenitor Empires”. Bin Kaleel sent another neural command and several of the star systems in the Xi Sector turned from pale blue to red, “four weeks ago the 3rd Progenitor Invasion began. In that time they have already overwhelmed the defenses of the solar systems indicated, and have forced us decisively onto the defensive”. Bin Kaleel sent another command and the holo projector advanced again, this time showing a closeup of the battle front of solar systems, “by this situational map you can see that the Progs knew exactly where to hit us. From the space they control in the Xi Sector they can now effectively strike out in whichever direction they choose, thus forcing us to either disperse our fleet into a defensive screen, or to evacuate several solar systems and allow the Progs to move in”.
Bin Kaleel let the Hive officers view the situational map and digest the choices before he continued, “We are going to do neither”, he said sharply, before sending the final neural command for his presentation, which pulled the view out and sent a white hot arrow piercing deep into the heart of Xi Sector, far behind the Progenitor front lines, “Instead we are going to take back the Safe Haven solar system, which the Progs have been using as a springboard for their operations. Then while the Progs have to backtrack and deal with this threat to their supply lines our fleet will launch our real assault on their front lines, breach these, link up and relieve our forces in the Safe Haven solar system, and eliminate the remaining pockets of Prog resistance in the Xi Sector”.
One Hive officer, realizing their part in this operation was to be the orbital assault, blurted out, “that’s suicide!”
Bin Kaleel let the presentation fade, turned and faced his audience, “if our offensive fails, then yes, those forces committed to the Safe Haven operation can be viewed as lost, especially”, bin Kaleel paused, looking at the assembled Hive officers, “the ground forces.”
Bin Kaleel finished up his presentation, “What I am looking for are officers to command our ground strike force”, bin Kaleel paused again, surveying his audience, and noting that most were trying to avoid eye contact. “My office lies through that portal”, bin Kaleel said, motioning to the back of the Command Center, “if your interested in the job then come see me, otherwise”, bin Kaleel cast one more long glance around the room, purposely increasing the intensity in his cyborg eye to an angry red glare before continueing, “I’d suggest you start brushing up on your defensive strategies, because by the time the Progs get to you all that’ll be left will be Garrison troops!”
General bin Kaleel turned and strode from the room, not looking back.
Twenty minutes later the door to bin Kaleel’s office opened and one lone Hive officer entered.
One…..
Bin Kaleel sighed internally. But it could have been worse. Obviously the officer had given this some thought before committing, indicating both intelligence and resolve. And who knows, bin Kaleel thought, this person may just be the grain of rice that tips the scales in favor of humanity. “This person may even be The One”, bin Kaleel thought to himself.
“Please sit down”, bin Kaleel motioned to the empty chair opposite him.


The Briefing

Background: the Safe Haven colonization project was a joint Drone and Believer endeavor founded in the early 2500's. The planet was very hospitable to humans, and the original population quickly grew to approximately 4 billion humans. As the planet was explored, it was found that there was a semi-operational Manifold Nexus present, however neither the Drones nor the Believers were able to exploit any benefits from this Nexus.
Because Safe Haven was a human world you will be provided with a scan of the planet: we advise you use the terrain to your advantage.
Because of its close proximity to the Progenitor Empire, it was one of the first worlds to be attacked, and the first to fall during this Progenitor invasion. There is a rumor that the Believers managed to destroy one of the Progenitor invasion ships. If this is true the ship may have scattered its cargo across the face of Safe Haven, appearing to your sensors as Unity Pods, and meaning you may find salvage units to help your cause.
Note that the Progenitor tactic of using fungal missiles has been detected on the surface of Safe Haven, and so probably you will encounter both fungus as well as mindworms, Fungal Towers, and Isles of the Deep.

Your mission: the fast attack carrier Leonidas under Admiral Mitscher will execute an orbital incursion into Safe Haven’s nearspace where your force will be dropped in standard orbital assault formation. Your assault force will be embarked upon 5 standard DRACa Mk3 re-entry vehicles and will consist of 5 Brigades of Interstellar Marines for you to command under the Hive banner. In case the Progenitors have orbital defenses a number of chaff missiles will also be dropped with your DRACa’s, which should hopefully draw off any Progenitor orbital attack vehicles. You will proceed to the surface of Safe Haven, rescue and protect any Believer or Drone survivors, engage and eliminate all enemy forces, and report back once successful. Note that several Scout Probes have been dropped previously which have identified ideal targets of opportunity for your invasion force. We recommend you use this intel to your advantage when launching your initial assault.

Other info: we have picked up transmissions from several Progenitor battle groups on the surface of Safe Haven. We therefore anticipate that once you are on the surface of the planet that combat will be intensive and prolonged. Also understand that you will be commanding an interstellar formation consisting of several human Factions capabilities, including Consciousness technicians which can steal technologies from conquered Progenitor bases.
Finally, it has been over 230 years since the last Progenitor invasion. In that time it is estimated that the Progenitors have adapted themselves to our previous tactics. Understand this, and be prepared for their riposte.

Good Luck Commander!

[Darsnan]

Scenario Name: March/April Hive CGN Challenge
SMAC/ SMAX: SMAX
Author: Darsnan
Date of original posting: 3/9/05
Original host site: Civilization Gaming Network

Here is my March/ April CGN Challenge. Its in the same theme as the Jan/ February Challenge in that its got some heavily modified aliens in it. I've got notes for a backstory, titled "Something wicked this way comes", but unfortunately I'm a bit busy these days....

Anyways, this game has very fun playtesting over the last month, and I appreciate Lazurus also helping me out in this. I hope you enjoy it, too!


D

[Darsnan]

Scenario Name: October 2005 CGN Challenge
SMAC/ SMAX: SMAX
Author: Darsnan
Date of original posting: 9/23/05
Original host site: Civilization Gaming Network

Prelude: there has always been much debate about which Faction realized it first. Some say it was the Hive with their farflung scout patrols and the strange things they encountered. Others say it was the University archeologists who unearthed the ancient alien cities and pieced together a tale of events that led to the mysterious fall of a civilization. Still others think it was the Gaians, who with their empaths sensed early on an unease that grew in their minds day by day. Regardless, all agreed on one thing: that something evil had occured on this planet, something so horrible that its crimes have echoed down through the eons, its victims crying out from beyond the grave for their revenge....


Background on your Faction: in this game you will play as the Consciousness. Just before the breakup of the Unity the Gaians discovered your faction as it was being experimented on by the University, and together with the Peace Keepers the Gaians liberated you and your people from the University's research lab where they had been in the process of experimenting on your people. Upon crashlanding on Planet one of your scout patrols discovered an abandoned battle fleet lieing off the coast of your continent. Because of the scouts built in electronic enhancements it was able to commandeer the vessels, and you now have a battle fleet at your disposal.

Premise for the game: shortly after discovering your battle fleet your allies the Gaians contact you requesting assistance against an aggressive alien race that is attacking them. You have guided your battle fleet to the Gaian coast and are poised to intercede on their behalf. At this same time the Spartans contact you requesting that you salvage a "Spartan Battle Unit" from the Unity wreckage and return it to them, as they are also under attack by the same alien menace. In return for delivering the Spartan Battle unit to its rightful owners, the Spartans have agreed that anything else your able to salvage from the wreckage belongs to you.
However, as you deploy your units for battle the first reports of strange events start filtering back to you, and it seems that a new algorhythm has activated itself in your memory banks and keeps whispering the words to you, "kill... kill.... kill...."


Your Mission

1. Rescue your allies the Gaians from the alien menace
2. Salvage the Spartan Battle Unit and return it to the Spartans
3. Discover what the Uni's were trying to accomplish with your Faction


Good Luck!


D

[Darsnan]

Scenario Name: July 2002 CGN Challenge
SMAC/ SMAX: SMAX
Author: buster
Date of original posting: 7/9/02
Original host site: Civilization Gaming Network

Now the moment I am sure you have all been waiting for.

This one was made to be more doable, so that the problem is not surviving but winning fast.

It is standard SMAC with unmodified factions. It is transcend and only tinkering done is that pods never make AAs and that the AI has been given a small head start (three CPs instead of two and improved terrain/extra resources at starting position). I have also done a bit of terraforming for the AI but nothing extraordinary (no condensors or boreholes). The AI has the Standard relations meaning they will probably fight each other as much as you and it is possible for you to ally etc.

It is done on a huge map of earth that I have modified a bit.

Your only real problem is that you start in the UK. It is not that it's a terrible place there is just not much of it. Good for you that Sparta already has the pre-req tech for Flexibility.

You play Sparta and as a hint when you first run into Yang - who is placed in France, trying to make friends while you catch up will probably be a good idea.

This one will run until 5 August as I will be away on vacation soon and only just be home at end of July.

edited:10 July 2002 - forgot to mention all victory options open

[Darsnan]

Scenario Name: April 2002 CGN Challenge
SMAC/ SMAX: SMAC
Author: Googlie
Date of original posting: Unknown
Original host site: Civilization Gaming Network

4/12/11: Currently I cannot DL this file from CGN.

[Darsnan]

Scenario Name: A city called Armagedon
SMAC/ SMAX: SMAC
Author: Darsnan
Date of original posting: 5/22/09
Original host site: WePlayCiv

Location: UN Interplanetary Colonization HQ, Customs Inspection Bay 23

Ah, Customs Inspection, the place where all factions need to declare all goods they hope to take with them to colonize new worlds. Where the Believers languish in a Purgatory of bureaucratic red tape, the Gaians try to claim mindworms are pets, the University becomes indignant about witchunts against forbidden technologies, and the Hive becomes supersecretive as to their intentions. But for the Morganites, the natural businessmen of the Universe, Customs is simply an exercise in business by other means. And if anything, you are a true Morganite.
You watch as the Customs Inspector makes his way to your loading bay where you have your wares spread out for inspection. You note the Inspector’s uniform is sharply pressed, and his hat pulled straight forward over perfectly cut hair: a very by-the-book man if you ever saw one. Having marked him, you put on the personae which you think best fits the environment, opening with a warm smile and pumping handshake.
The Inspector ignores the warmth of your smile, perfunctorily shaking your hand before immediately moving over to the beginning of your bay. He pulls out a standardized checklist and immediately begins ticking things off against your manifest. After about half a minute he stops ticking things off and turns to you. “Mainframe”, he demands, sticking a hand out.
Your mainframe computer, the one which will run all your interests on this planet. You reach into your pocket and hand him the computer. The Inspector eyes it keenly, noting the model and serial number before plugging it into a scanner. The scanner starts chugging along, reviewing all the mainframe’s files, ensuring there were no contraband techs. Fifteen seconds later the scanner’s light turns green. “Mainframe clean” the Inspector notes for the log, and hands your mainframe back.
Next up is your equipment manifest -all your supplies which you plan on taking to the new world:

QTY ITEM
2 Hovertank Superformers
2 Drop Defenders
3 Supply Droids*
1 Alien Artififact
1 Transport Chopper*
2 Armored Probes
3 Impactor Battletanks
2 Hovertank Transports*
2 Crop Dusters*

*: modified from original manufacturer’s design

The Inspector stops at the asterisk, “how have you modified the equipment from original manufacturer’s design?”, he asks briskly.
You instruct the Drone workers to open one of the crates, specifically one containing a Hovertank Transport. You point to the back of the machine, “the two tanks attached to the back are additional fuel tanks, in order to give our traders extended range on their journeys” you say, before adding with a smarmy smile, “our faction’s motto is ‘We go the extra mile for our customers!’ “.
The Inspector stares at you blankly, then returns his attention to the transport, looking over the rest of the Hovertank Transport’s hull, “standard transport design, except for noted additional fuel tanks”, the man remarks for the record, before motioning the Drones to close the crate back up.
The Inspector moves to the next row of crates. “Weapons inspection” the man dictates, and the Drones move to uncrate the first battletank. The Inspector waves his scanner over the machine, its wand querying the battletank for the machine’s specifics. The tank in turn spits out its manufacturer’s specifications to the scanner display. “Impactor Main turret gun, synthmetal armor, fission reactor, hovertank chassis”, the Inspector reads off his scanner display for the record, “weaponry within quarantine parameters”. He proceeds to walk down the still crated row of tanks and armored probes, scanning each one in turn. After reviewing the scanner’s data he adds, “all weapons platforms within acceptable limits of quarantine”.
Finished, the Inspector stops at the far end of your bay and comments for the record, “Inspection complete. Morganite Faction cleared for transit”. The man motions you over, pointing to where you needed to affix your signature to the necessary triplicate documentation. He reviews hyour signatures, and once satisfied you have signed all three copies correctly, the man turns and walks away, completely oblivious to your outstretched hand.
You continue smiling as you watch the Inspector go. You have payed good money to ensure you got an inspector who was completely “by the book”, one who would be perfunctory and thorough, but lacked the imagination to think outside the box. For if the Inspector had bothered to review his scanner’s readout he would have noted your mainframe is actually of University design, and as such has all of the prerequisite capabilities of immediately researching one technology – a significant boost up in a new trading environment! And if he had bothered to physically look closer at your transport’s “fuel tanks” he would have realized that they could be easily reconfigured into the compression chambers of artillery units. And the “Impactor Battletanks”? Well, that’s what the scanner said it was, so that was good enough for the Inspector. Yes, you think to yourself, some very well spent EC’s.
A tingling at the back of your head causes you to turn, and you note a Gaian staring intently at you from across the inspection bay. The woman doesn’t waver in her gaze as she continues to focus on you, and you recognize the tell-tale sign of an empath reading someone’s mind. Can’t be, you think, empaths were outlawed from colonizing new planets, as they gave their respective factions a leg up against other factions!
The woman smiles coldly at you before turning away, and you uneasily realize that if you were so easily able to beat the Customs Inspection, then the Gaians probably have learned their own tricks to get by the Inspectors as well.
And if the Gaians had found a way to beat the quarantine, then how many other factions were beating the system in their own ways as well?

Directions
1. In your Alpha Centauri/ Scenarios directory create a subdirectory called Armagedon, and unzip the attached files into the Armagedon subdirectory.
2. Start SMAC.
3. At the main screen choose Scenario, Play Scenario, and load up Armagedon.SC
4. The game will automatically load up with the Morganites.


Enjoy!

[Darsnan]

Scenario Name: December 2009 Game of the Month (GotM)
SMAC/ SMAX: SMAX
Author: Darsnan
Date of original posting: 12/1/09
Original host site: WePlayCiv

Directions

1) In your Scenarios subdirectory create a folder called "Dec GotM", and download and unzip the “Dec GotM” files into it.
2) Start up SMAX, then select "Scenario", "Play Scenario", and then go to the subdirectory "Dec GotM" and choose the scenario. The game will automatically load with the University.



Changelog

The alphax.txt file for this game has been aquatized, with some of the more notable modifications as follows:

#RULES

- Artillery Numerator/ Denominator is at 15/7: with arty, it is much better to give than receive!

#RESOURCEINFO
- Ocean squares yield 1/1/1.
- Monoliths give 2/3/2
#CHASSIS
- the speeder chassis has been disabled. Note that there is a speeder based unit available at Nonlinear Mathematics, and this unit can be reverse engineered as the player sees fit.
- the Foil chassis is available at Doc: Mobility.
Needlejet and copter movement have been reduced to 6.
- Gravship movement has been reduced to 5, and the chassis is available at Monopole Magnets.
#UNITS
There are 43 units in the alphax.txt for this game, most favoring the aquatic.

FACTIONS

Several factions have been modified to make them more challenging.

[Darsnan]

Scenario Name: September 2009 Game of the Month (GotM)
SMAC/ SMAX: SMAX
Author: Darsnan
Date of original posting: 12/1/09
Original host site: WePlayCiv

Usually I accompany my scenarios with a backstory, and usually that story focuses on whichever faction(s) the game revolves around. In this case though I am going to discuss the solar system, and specifically the planet, this game takes place in.

Premise: shortly after the fall of the Progenitor empire approximately thirty thousand years ago, a rogue neutron star plowed through this solar system, its immense gravitational pull altering the orbits of the planets as well as many of the smaller planetoids, asteroids, and other orbital debris that comprised the solar system. While this event was not catastrophic in itself, over the ensuing millennia the Progenitor colony on the one habitable planet slowly lost its civilization as it was continuously pummeled by falling debris from the sky, to the point where all of the major landmasses were destroyed, and all that is left are the impact craters from previous asteroid strikes. And then came the Von Neuman probes commonly referred to as the Sentinels, who’s pre-programmed mission is to terraform a planet to specified parameters. However because of the severity and multitude of the meteor strikes on this world, the Sentinels are continually being provoked into re-terraforming the planet in an attempt to keep it within their pre-defined parameters. Add to this volatile mix the survivors from a human exploration spaceship, and you have a recipe for disaster: welcome to the planet the inhabitants would shortly come to call Hell…..


Directions

1) In your Scenarios subdirectory create a folder called "9V", and download and unzip the “9V” files into it.
2) Start up SMAX, then select "Scenario", "Play Scenario", and then go to the subdirectory "9V" and choose the scenario. The game will load up with the Believers.



Changelog

The alphax.txt file for this game has been heavily modified, with some of the more notable modifications as follows:

#RULES

- Artillery Numerator/ Denominator is at 15/7: with arty, it is much better to give than receive!
- Max artillery range is set to 3. Note that if you aren’t using scient’s patch to the terranx.exe file, that only the AI will be able to bombard from 3 tiles away).
- Max airdrop = 6 tiles.
- Base defense has been increased to 40%: since the AI is typically on the defensive, then this will assist the AI moreso.
- 10% penalty for attacking from a lower elevation.
- Global Warming has been changed from 1,1 to 1,4: this effectively stops global warming, the reason for this is that the AIs typically do poorly in response to the effects of global warming.
- Size of base for Subspace Generator: 6. This, combined with several other changes, should hopefully bring this facet of the game into play.

#TERRAIN

- Plant/ remove xenoflora has no prerequisite: this change was made specifically for the Autochthone alien faction.
- Raise/ Lower Land changed to 20 turns, and now available at Ecological Engineering 2.


#RESOURCE INFO

- forest squares produce 2 nutrients: this is a nutrient rich environment.
- Ocean squares give a 1,1,1: rationale for this is that the AIs typically do a poor job of base placement. By having ocean squares produce a 1/1/1, this then helps compensate the AIs for this. This change also makes aquatic factions much more viable.
- Monoliths give 2/3/2.
- Borehole squares give a -3 nutrients (note that if you are not using scient’s patch to the terranx.exe file you won’t see this effect).

#TECHNOLOGY
There are several tweaks here to the tech tree. Please consult your datalinks when considering your beeline strategies.

#CHASSIS

- Needlejet and copters now move 6 squares: since the AIs generally don’t handle units based on these chassis well, then this is to the AIs advantage.

- Speeder chassis has been disabled: note there is a speeder unit available with Nonlinear Mathematics, so this can be reverse-engineered in order to fill any needs you might have for speeder based units.

- Gravships move 5 squares, and are now available with Monopole Magnets. These changes are twofold: first, by bringing the gravship chassis to a tech adjacent MMI, this then makes Monopole Magnets more of a viable research branch (as opposed to the typical beeline for MMI). Second, the gravship movement has been reduced to 5 squares: this makes the unit competitively viable at this point in the tech tree (i.e. its not overpowering).

- Hovertankchassis has been moved to Fusion: here again by bringing the hovertank chassis to a tech opposite MMI, this then presents another viable research option.


#WEAPONS

- From Fusion weapons on out, weapon values have been reduced. See the datalinks for exact values. This idea originated with Maniac, and the idea is to make the weapons-to-armor ratio more balanced.

#DEFENSES

- beginning with Resonance armor, the defensive values have been increased by one, and some of the costs for specific armor types have been reduced. See datalinks for specifics. Here again, this idea originated with Maniac.


#ABILITIES

- Deep Pressure Hull moved to Superconductor: AIs don’t design any units with this, but they will build pre-designed subs, which are a PIA to deal with!
- Empath Song replaced by Nannite Accelerant: all facets of Alpha Centauri/ Planet have been removed from this mod.
- Hypnotic Trance replaced by Nannite Shield.
- Heavy Artillery costs zero, and is not allowed on fast moving units.

#UNITS

- There are 39 units spread throughout the tech tree. For the most part these units have been vetted. The other reason for so many is that it pears back the number of poor designs the AI builds (although it still tries to screw the pooch on occasion with crap units). Some of the units are as follows:

- Several gravship and hovertank designs: part of this is to act as a counter to the human's use of AC and choppers. The AI builds aircraft but doesn't handle them very well (although I have gotten to employ them slightly better in this scenario), however they do a better job with gravships and hovertanks.

- Aircraft carriers, Probe ships, and subs.

- You will now have to prototype your first crawler.

- All NL units replaced with Sentinel units.

#FACILITIES

- Geosynchronous Survey Pod and Flechette Defense: available with DocAir. Both cost 8 rows.
- Nessus Mining Station available with Doc:Air.

- Empath Guild: moved to Eudomania
- Virtual World: moved to Social Psych. Trying to water down the beeline to Industrial Auto.

- Cloudbase Academy: moved to Monopole Magnets. Because of the CBA's worth (i.e. free aerospace complex in each city), then this, along with the gravship chassis at Monopole Magnets, now makes for an interesting choice: does the player beeline for MMI and choppers, or does the player now beeline for Monopole Magnets?

- There are other changes to the overall system, but the above are the most notable IMO.

Game setup options

- NL level set to high: Sentinels are continually being provoked into action by asteroid strikes

- Steal Tech is on: this is to encourage the players to go forth, proselytize, and convert your fellow inhabitants of this world.


Enjoy!

D

[Darsnan]

Scenario Name: July 2009 Game of the Month (GotM)
SMAC/ SMAX: SMAX
Author: zsozso
Date of original posting: 11/26/00
Original host site: WePlayCiv

Here is the Game of the Month for July: The Ultimate Builder Challenge.
For the purpose of the GOTM any type of victory is OK, you do not need to win by transcendence.

The game is "almost" a standard SMACX game with a very specific set of setup option and faction choice which makes it hard to transcend.

The factions
1. Planet Cult - the human player, i.e. You
2. Hive
3. Believers
4. Spartans
5. Pirates
6. Caretakers
7. Usurpers

Rule options:
* All victory conditions ON
* Do or Die ON
* Look First ON
* Tech Stagnation ON
* Spoils of War OFF - can't steal it
* Blind Research ON
* Intense rivalry (aggressive AI) ON
* Bell Curve ON - better comparison chances for the challenge
* Iron Man ON
Difficulty: Transcend (of course!)

The game is played on the Huge Map of Planet - so that everybody has the same chance to know it including me, because I want to participate too without unfair advantage.

For the same reason, I give you the starting locations (pods/scouts, look first is on, so you can walk about before putting down your city).
Of course, you can also load the scenario into the editor to look around before you play.

Just don't use the editor during the challenge game...
1. Cult (You) start at (69,17) - Isle of Deianira
2. Hive at (91,71) - near Monsoon Jungle
3. Believers at (110,32) - near Upland Wastes
4. Spartans at (32,102) - near Freshwater Sea
5. Pirates at (74,78) - between Sea of Unity and Geothermal Shallows
6. Caretakers (15,55) - near The Ruins
7. Usurpers (46,54) - near Garland Crater

Now, the only remaining thing to explain is the almost above, i.e. what makes this scenario very different from a game started up with the same setup parameters and factions. It is the diplomacy setup!

Each AI faction has the following special diplomacy setting:
* Vendetta with Planet Cult
* Atrocity victim of Planet Cult
* Want revenge against Planet Cult
* Fight to Death with Planet Cult
* Pact with all other AI factions
* Surrendered to all other AI factions (yes the Scenario editor allows
both ways surrendered state - go figure )
* The current diplomacy status is fixed - cannot change during game!

BTW, do not hope to get some freebie tech or Alien Artifacts from the Unity pods. These 2 goodies are disabled.

[Darsnan]

Scenario Name: June 2009 Game of the Month (GotM)
SMAC/ SMAX: SMAX
Author: Russia4Life
Date of original posting: 5/13/2009
Original host site: WePlayCiv

Well it is the 1st of June and as promised here is the game I designed. Players will be controlling the Drones.

I intended the game to be difficult, but I doubt anyone will experience any major problems completing the game. It is a scenario game that starts at turn one with some advantages given to the AI factions. As such you will need to play the scenario through the scenario option on the main game menu.

(I can't think of anything else to add at the moment so I guess I will just wish everyone good luck.)

[Darsnan]

Scenario Name: Children of the Sun
SMAC/ SMAX: SMAX
Author: Darsnan
Date of original posting: 7/27/09
Original host site: WePlayCiv


Children of the Sun


The huntership pursued its prey towards the ancient stargate, steadily gaining on its wounded quarry. From his bridge Hunter Klesske viewed the fleeing starship: it looked vaguely familiar, like some of the ancient relics he and his people had come across from time to time, only this one was different, somehow morphed, as if different hands had been at work on it. And the ship was alive! Klesske’s spaceship continued its pursuit much the same way his ancestors had hounded wounded prey through the shallow waters of their homeworld eons ago: the scent of blood was in the water, and the primal instincts which ran so deep in his species had taken hold of Klesske, driving him relentlessly after his prey.
The huntership’s computer spat out the intercept coordinates, and Klesske cursed: the preyship would make it to the nearby stargate before he could intercept it. However that would be little consolation for them, as Klesske’s ship was more powerful and better armed: the pursuit would simply continue on the other side of the stargate, and he had no doubt how it would end there.
Klesske continued to watch the preyship until it entered the stargate nexus, and then disappeared. His ship corrected its vector so that it would come out of the stargate on the same trajectory as its prey. While he had a moment Klesske gave the command to prepare his boarding crews: it wouldn’t be long now.
Klesske’s ship closed with the stargate, falling towards its center. Being a veteran of many transits through stargates, Klesske knew what to expect: a blinding flash of light, then a few moments of disorientation before reappearing elsewhere in the galaxy. Klesske’s ship was close enough to the stargate now that he could make out the ancient hieroglyphs which pockmarked the surface of the stargate itself. What they meant was anyone’s guess: they could be anything from a ceremonial blessing to travelers, to a warning about the dangers of transit, to simple graffiti. Klesske was still studying them when his ship made transit: one moment he was studying the inner ring of the stargate, and the next chaos! Immediately in front of his ship now lay a debris field. Klesske’s ship, still accelerating, plowed directly into the field. Klaxons immediately began blaring, signaling critical damage to the ship even as it collided with more objects. And in the distance Klesske could see the fleeing preyship: they had done this! They had counted on Klesske plotting an intercept course upon transiting the stargate, and had jettisoned their cargo directly into the path his ship would take. Klesske gave the command to take evasive maneuvers, but he already knew it was too late: there were too many objects, and his ship was travelling way too fast to avoid them all. Klesske’s reptilian eyes narrowed as he focused on the distant preyship: too late he realized this was a quarry who had teeth and could fight back! And now that his ship was mortally wounded they might now turn from the Prey into the Hunter! Well, Klesske wasn’t finished yet: “Arm missiles”, he commanded, even as another object struck a critical blow to his ship.

Commander Jophesus watched as the alien spaceship appeared out of the mouth of the stargate and immediately began colliding with the debris field he had purposely strewn for them. At the relativistic speeds the ship was travelling compared to the debris field, each object was imparting the force of a multi-megaton warhead: the cumulative effect it was having on the alien ship was most gratifying to Commander Jophesus. He continued to watch the fireballs blossom on the alien ship’s hull until his Tactical Officer interjected himself, “Sir, multiple incoming tracks!”
Jophesus grimaced: from his first encounter with this strange alien ship it had been apparent the aliens had superior technology to his own exploration vessel, and the only reason they hadn’t destroyed his ship at the outset was that they had wanted to board his ship, for purposes unknown. Jophesus had used this to his advantage at first, trading damaging blows to his ship for the opportunity to flee. But the aliens had shown uncharacteristic abilities to pursue, and with his options narrowed Jophesus had fled through the local stargate, not knowing where he would re-appear. Now though was the end gambit: after the ambush at the gate, the aliens realized the tables had been turned, and were now ensuring that neither side would survive this encounter. Jophesus thought furiously: he had always had a knack for finding ways out of hopeless situations, but as he eyed the multiple incoming tracks he realized there would be no rescue from this situation. But if he couldn’t survive, then at least maybe some of his passengers might, “Are there any habitable worlds in this solar system?”, Jophesus asked his science officer.
“Affirmative”, the Cyborg officer responded, “but our records indicate this system is quarantined”.
Jophesus managed a tight-lipped smile, “Do the datalinks give a reason for the quarantine?”
“Negative”, the officer responded. Jophesus had an idea why that might be, but it was moot at this point. “Then man the escape pods, and give the command to utilize evasive maneuvers”.
Jophesus took personal control of the ship, vectoring towards the one habitable planet in-system. He punched up the sparse information on the planet from the one and only reference in the datalinks:
Planet: Sunburst (so named by exploration crew who visited the solar system in MY 2445)
Primary: Class M (currently unnamed)
Population: uninhabited
Climate: temperate
Gravity: 1.3 standard
Class: habitable
Note: this solar system has been placed on quarrantine by the UN Exploration and Colonization Commission. No, repeat no contact with this solar system is authorized under any circumstances!

Well, it was habitable, Jophesus thought charitably, and at least it offered a chance of survival for those who made planetfall. He returned his attention to the present situation: the alien ship was now an orange glowing mass, even as more fireballs erupted on its hull. The ship had taken tremendous punishment, and yet had still seemingly retained its integrity! However as Jophesus watched several specks departed the ship, only these were moving much more slowly than the incoming missiles: they were the aliens’ equivalent of escape pods. Jophesus watched as the specks aligned themselves, then began homing on the same planet as his own escape pods were headed. Unfortunately Jophesus thought there was nothing he could do about this to assist those who survived planetfall. And because of the quarantine of this solar system, then what happened on this planet, stayed on this planet….
The first of the alien missiles reached his ship….

The first humans who survived re-entry on the planet Sunburst were treated to the rare spectacle of watching a myriad display of pyrotechnics in and above the atmosphere of their world: first were the re-entry pods streaking through the upper atmosphere as other humans made their first steps towards planetfall. Next came the random debris which had accompanied the emergency evacuation of the escape pods. Finally they witnessed the destruction of their mothership as it was overwhelmed by the incoming volley of alien missiles.
And then after a brief pause the aliens began to arrive….

Directions
1) In your Scenarios subdirectory create a folder called "CotS", and download and unzip the “CotS” files into it.
2) Start up SMAX, then select "Scenario", "Play Scenario", and then go to the subdirectory "CotS" and choose the scenario. You will be given the option on which faction to play, and you may choose any of the following:

Research Institute
Cyborg Intellect
Fleet (modified Pirates)
Emptathi (aquatized Cult)


Note that if you want to utilize the modified faction graphics, then you will need to back up your Caretaker, Usurper, Cyborg, and Cult pcx files, then download and unzip the CotS_factions zip into your main Alpha Centauri subdirectory.

Special thanks to skreeblios and the Network Node for the faction.pcx files I used in this scenario!


Changelog

The alphax.txt file for this game has been heavily modified, with some of the more notable modifications as follows:

#RULES

- Artillery Numerator/ Denominator is at 15/7: with arty, it is much better to give than receive!
- Max artillery range is set to 3. Note that if you aren’t using scient’s patch, that only the AI will be able to bombard from 3 tiles away).
- Max airdrop = 6 tiles.
- Base defense has been increased to 40%: since the AI is typically on the defensive, then this will assist the AI moreso.
- 10% penalty for attacking from a lower elevation.
- Max arty damage inflicted on units in base/ bunker: 60
- Global Warming has been changed from 1,1 to 1,2: this effectively halves global warming, the reason for this is that the AIs typically do poorly in response to the effects of global warming.
- Size of base for Subspace Generator: 8. This, combined with several other changes, should hopefully bring this facet of the game into play.

#TERRAIN

- Plant xenoflora has no prerequisite: this change was made specifically for the Autochthone alien faction.
- Raise/ Lower Land changed to 20 turns, and now available at Ecological Engineering 2.


#RESOURCE INFO

- Ocean squares now give a 1,1,1: rationale for this is that the AIs typically do a poor job of base placement. By having ocean squares produce a 1/1/1, this then helps compensate the AIs for this. This change also makes aquatic factions much more viable.
- Bonus squares now give 3/3/3.
- Monoliths give 2/3/2.
- Borehole squares give a -2 nutrients (note that if you are not using scient’s patch to the terranx.exe file you won’t see this effect).

#WORLDBUILDER
Based on smacksim’s work, the worldbuilder has been modified to produce long stringy continents with lots of isthmus. These modifications in general are to the AIs advantage, as it artificially groups the AIs units together, giving a semblance of a power rush of units.

#TECHNOLOGY
There are several tweaks here to the tech tree. Please consult your datalinks when considering your beeline strategies.

#CHASSIS

- Needlejet and copters now move 6 squares: since the AIs generally don’t handle units based on these chassis well, then this is to the AIs advantage.

- Gravships move 5 squares, and are now available with Monopole Magnets. These changes are twofold: first, by bringing the gravship chassis to a tech adjacent MMI, this then makes Monopole Magnets more of a viable research branch (as opposed to the typical beeline for MMI). Second, the gravship movement has been reduced to 5 squares: this makes the unit competitively viable at this point in the tech tree (i.e. its not overpowering).

- Hovertankchassis has been moved to Fusion: here again by bringing the hovertank chassis to a tech opposite MMI, this then presents another viable research option.


#WEAPONS

- From Fusion weapons on out, weapon values have been reduced. See the datalinks for exact values. This idea originated with Maniac, and the idea is to make the weapons-to-armor ratio more balanced.

#DEFENSES

- beginning with Pulse 3 armor/ Resonance armor, the defensive values have been increased by one, and some of the costs for specific armor types have been reduced. See datalinks for specifics. Here again, this idea originated with Maniac.


#ABILITIES

- Deep Pressure Hull moved to Superconductor: AIs don’t design any units with this, but they will build pre-designed subs, which are a PIA to deal with!
- Empath Song replaced by Nannite Accelerant: all facets of Alpha Centauri/ Planet have been removed from this mod.
- Hypnotic Trance replaced by Nannite Shield.
- Heavy Artillery costs zero, and is not allowed on fast moving units.
- Clean Reactors cost zero.
-
#UNITS

- There are 42 units spread throughout the tech tree. For the most part these units have been vetted. The other reason for so many is that it pears back the number of poor designs the AI builds (although it still tries to screw the pooch on occasion with crap units). Some of the units are as follows:

- Several gravship and hovertank designs: part of this is to act as a counter to the human's use of AC and choppers. The AI builds aircraft but doesn't handle them very well (although I have gotten to employ them slightly better in this scenario), however they do a better job with gravships and hovertanks.

- Aircraft carriers, Probe ships, and subs.

- You will now have to prototype your first crawler.
- All NL units replaced with Sentinel units.

#FACILITIES

- Headquarters now give +3 EC’s/ turn, Thermocline Transducer gives +1 EC/ turn. This from an idea introduced to me by Impaler [WRG].
- Geosynchronous Survey Pod and Flechette Defense: available with DocAir. Both cost 8 rows.
- Nessus Mining Station available with Doc:Air.

- Empath Guild: moved to Eudomania
- Virtual World: moved to Social Psych. Trying to water down the beeline to Industrial Auto.

- Cloudbase Academy: moved to Monopole Magnets. Because of the CBA's worth (i.e. free aerospace complex in each city), then this, along with the gravship chassis at Monopole Magnets, now makes for an interesting choice: does the player beeline for MMI and choppers, or does the player now beeline for Monopole Magnets?

- There are other changes to the overall system, but the above are the most notable IMO


Enjoy!
D