Altera Centauri: The SMAC/X Scenario Repository

[Darsnan]

Scenario Name: Summer Solstice 2004 AI Challenge
SMAC/ SMAX: SMAX
Author: Chaos Theory
Date of original posting: 6/21/04
Original host site: Apolyton

5 factions successfully landed from the Unity: Morgan and his cronies, Yang and his trusting laborers, Aki Zeta-5 and the remnants of the Unity research crew, Svensgaard and the remnants of the Spartans, and against all odds, Miriam and those in the damaged 7th landing pod.

Over the first twenty years on Planet, Morgan and Yang met and formed a business alliance, with Morgan carefully developing Yang's laborers' initiative without inducing any desire for freedom, and with Yang training Morgan's followers in asceticism.

Svensgaard claimed the infinite seas and started preying on Morgan's commercial transports. In return, Morgan has sent some decoy transports, rigged to explode when boarded.

Miriam has decided that Yang and Aki Zeta-5 are abominations for their inhumanity and must be wiped off the face of Eden. She's not too fond of Morgan, either, for being a demon's ally. Svensgaard has carefully avoided attacking Miriam's transports, content to not be a target of her fanaticism.

Aki Zeta-5 has more or less carved out a peaceful niche for herself and her followers, but now is threatened by Miriam. In response to that, she has allied with Yang, on the principle that her enemy's enemy is her friend.

In the year 2120, Foreman Domai in Laborer's Throng successfully revolted against Yang's rule and formed the Free Drone faction. Although the base was quickly reconquered, with nerve gas, Domai and his fellow laborers fled to a remote region of Planet to found Utopia.

Domai views Aki Zeta-5 as dangerous, with her conflicting notion of Utopia, but has found a friend in Svensgaard, a fellow freedom-lover.

Taking advantage of the disruption caused by Domai, Asa Wright, head of Quality Assurance in Morgan Industries, capitalized on a plan she had been working on since Planetfall. She and some fellow hackers stole all of Morgan's technology and incited drones throughout his empire, while smuggling out supplies with which to found a freer, more cooperative society.

Roze's actions of course made enemies of both Yang and Morgan, but her love of Democracy has drawn some of Miriam's wrath, as well.


You will play Roze, with the following turn order:
Miriam
Yang
Sven
Morgan
Aki
Domai
Roze


The modes of victory will be:
Transcendence (but only if the AI does not have the Voice of Planet - no stealing the win from the AI!)
Destroying what all of the other factions hold dear (this will be apparent in the scenario)
Diplomatic
Economic (but first you must crush Morgan)
Cooperative victory is disabled


Whenever you capture an enemy HQ, you have a choice:

1. Return it to its original owner, or
2. Let your probe teams go to town with mind control probes on the faction leader who lives there. Burn down the base to complete the ravaging of his mind. The victim will become unable to experience that which he loves. The faction will hate you for the rest of its life, but will (hopefully) fight less effectively from then on.


Thanks to Dilithium Dad for the Ultimate Builder Map which I tweaked for this scenario.


Other odd features:
The power graph is broken. You do have an aversion to power...
The AIs have new abilities, some secret, some not. Find out for yourself.

Edit: Updated challenge with fix to Roze's techshare ability and faction files.

[Darsnan]

Scenario Name: Apolyton Game of the Month! Its Back Yippee!
SMAC/ SMAX: SMAC
Author: Jamski
Date of original posting: 5/19/04
Original host site: Apolyton

Yes, its back, the Apolyton Game of the Month!

To take part simply place the attached file in the scenarios folder of your SMAC installation, and select "Play Scenario" from the main menu.

When you're done, post up your findings and results here using the [spoiler] tags and any tips for people getting hammered. There will of course be the usual bragging rights for the ones getting the highest scores and fastest wins, as well as the right to design the next GOTM should they so wish.

As this is the May/June game, it will run at least till the end of June. Who says we can't have longer months?

About the May-June Game

If you'd rather be surprised, stop reading now!

The Unity had enough escape pods for every faction to have two for the emergency landing on Planet. Unfortunately the pods launched from the starboard side of the ship had their nav-consoles scrambled, and landed on the wrong side of Planet's central ocean, the Mittelmer Sea.

Each faction has two pods, placed opposite each other on a (very roughly) doughnut shaped continent, sandwiched between aggressive neighbours. In order to dominate Planet, the best action leaders will find a way to join the two halfs of their factions as soon as possible.

All normal rules are in effect, the difficulty is Transcend, and the starting faction is the University. Unfortunatly both of your colony teams thought the other team had the free tech, so it got lost somewhere.

As mentioned by Obstructor - this is a SMAC game. Playing it in SMAX will get some strange results, which you can read about here in this thread.

Have fun, and watch out for the mindworms!

-Jam

[Darsnan]

Scenario Name: ACDG4 Game One: The Sword of the Righteous
SMAC/ SMAX: SMAC
Author: Darsnan
Date of original posting: 10/14/06
Original host site: Apolyton

Backdrop1

In MY 2189 several factions discovered the wreckage of a Progenitor interstellar spaceship on the farside of Nessus. After much investigation it was determined that the ships star charts were intact, and that the hyperdrive engine could be cloned.
By MY 2201 the first fleet of scoutships were built and sent out with a mandate to investigate all of the habitable planets catalogued in the ancient Progenitor ships start charts. The results of the expeditions were mixed: some scoutships returned with exciting news of “Eden-class” planets, while other scouts returned telling tales of planets who had degraded over the eons. Still other scouts failed to return at all….
By MY2223 the “Great Diaspora of Man” had begun in earnest, with spaceships being built poste-haste by all the Factions, and sent out with the soul purpose of colonizing far-flung worlds. It was a race to “get there first”, and to report back that the targeted world had been claimed for their Parent Faction.

One unintended side effect that the “Diaspora of Man” had was that this continual manpower drainage weakened the Parent Factions that existed on Alpha Centauri’s Planet, with the end result being that the Peace Keepers were able to unite all of the Factions under their banner in MY2249. But with their dream of uniting Planet fulfilled, the Peace Keepers then almost immediately turned their ambitions to the stars, and of uniting all the far-flung colonies of Man under the Peace Keeper banner as well. Much thought and energy was put into this: emissaries were sent far and wide across the realms of Man cataloguing the various civilizations that were developing, and documenting what adversaries might come to pass, and how it might be best to deal with each accordingly.
The Peace Keepers, heeding the advice of their emissaries amongst the stars, formulated a plan that was still in essence the core of their creed, while laying the framework to advance their new ambitions of interstellar conquest: to offer themselves on the behalf of the downtrodden, and when necessary to “protect” these peoples from aggressor states. Their emissaries and diplomats preached this mantra wherever they traveled across the galaxy, allowing those who heard it to interpret it as they might, and planting the seed of thought that the Peace Keepers would come to their assistance if they were threatened.
The Peace Keepers waited, and watched, and prepared themselves for the day when someone would ask for help….


Backdrop 2

Planet MY2254-443 had somehow slipped through the cracks. Although it was geographically “right around the corner” from the Alpha Centauri solar system, it had not been one of the planets documented in the recovered Progenitor starlogs, and so had been passed over for colonization during the first phases of human expansion. An experimental Gaian Terraforming starship had accidentally stumbled onto the planet during its maiden voyage in MY2252. The crew scanned the planet and determined that it had once been a Progenitor colony, as there were still many Progenitor artifacts and ruined cities scattered across the surface. After documenting the status of the planet, the Gaian expedition continued with their original mission and began the terraforming process by seeding the planet with kelp and trees, and established a small colony to monitor and oversee the process.
The Gaians, always concerned about the destruction that Man always seemed to wrought on the ecologies He encountered, tried to keep this planet a secret from the rest of humanity, and so did not publicly acknowledge that they had discovered a new habitable world. However the Morganites, possibly through the use of spy software inserted into the entertainment packages they had sold to the Gaian explorers, learned of the planets location. The Morganites, always shrewd businessmen, realized that a) since the planet wasn’t officially registered, that they could claim finders fees (even though they had never stepped foot on the planet!), and b) once the planet was registered, they could pocket even more money by selling sections of the planet to several different Splinter Factions, as opposed to trying to sell the whole planet to one Splinter group. Thus it came to pass that Splinter Factions of the Believers, University, Spartans, and Hive came to settle various regions of the planet. In one final brutal act of legal manipulation the Morganites, after filing claim to the planet, had the authorities declare the original Gaian terraformers as “illegal settlers” on the planet they had founded, and seized the Gaian’s terraforming stations. They then expelled the Gaians from the planet. There are rumors that a few Gaians are still on the planet, but if its true, they are few in numbers, and keep mostly to themselves….

Premise

After settling the planet that came to be called “Sanctuary” in MY2261, the various Splinter Factions almost immediately fell into conflict. The University, using their superior technology and weaponry, initiated a brutal war of conquest against their neighbors the Believers. Begun in MY2271, the University continually used their technological edge to push the Believers back. However in MY2285, almost in desperation, the Believers nominated a peasant girl named Joan to lead their remaining forces. Joan had claimed to have had a vision of defeating the University on the field of battle and leading her people to glory and victory in Gods name. To the surprise of many this prophecy was born out, as Joan went against every military convention and led her force directly between two University Armies, and, before the University commanders could recover from this unexpected military maneuver, Joan struck and destroyed first one Uni army, and then wheeled to face the now much smaller remaining Uni force. The Uni’s fell back in confusion. Joan pursued, and now aided by captured Uni equipment which put them on an equal footing tech-wise, were able to defeat the remaining Uni field armies at Agincourt. The University leadership, realizing their cause was lost, surrendered the following year.
Meanwhile the Spartan Splinter Faction had fallen into conflict with their neighbors, the Hive. A war of attrition that ended up resembling the trench warfare of World War 1 ensued, with neither Faction making any headway in the early years. However as time progressed the Hive, understanding its strength was also the Spartans weakness, began to mass produce units with the idea of simply wearing down the Spartans. The Spartans for their part also recognized this, and in an astonishing turn of events appealed to the Believers to intervene on their behalf. The now defacto leader of the Believers, Joan d’Arc, agreed to assist the Spartans against the atheistic Hive, and almost immediately began augmenting the Spartan units with her own already battle seasoned units.
With this turn of events the Morganites, who had thus far followed the mantra that war is bad for business and had stayed out of the conflicts on this planet, saw the prevailing winds turn in favor of the Believers and Spartans at this time, and closed their borders to the Hive. In what many believe to be a contrived event, the Morganites then claimed a border violation by the Hive, and requested Believer assistance, which then allowed the Believers to base aggressor units in Morganite territory along the previously neutral Hive flank. In little more than five years the Hive Splinter Faction went from winning its war against the Spartans, to fighting for its very survival against the rest of the planet. In these most desperate times the Hive remembered the promise the Peace Keepers had made some years ago that they would come to the aid of those threatened by “aggressor states”. It is now MY2299.

The Game

The Hive Splinter Faction on Sanctuary has contacted you asking for assistance. They have asked that you place Peace Keeper units into “Observation Posts” along its borders, in order to establish a buffer between themselves and the other warring Splinter Factions. In return the Hive have offered you the services of several cities in which to base your operations from, which they state should also be considered as part of the buffer zone between themselves and the “aggressor states”, meaning it is your responsibility to keep the warring factions apart.
Because of Sanctuary’s proximity to Alpha Centauri the Peace Keeper leadership realize that this is an ideal situation in which to inject the Peace Keepers into, with the end goal being of adding this world to the Peace Keeper fold. And so while your “official mandate” is to keep the peace by separating the warring factions, your unofficial goal is to bring the various Splinter Factions under sway. To that end you have been given units that are technologically superior to those already existing on Sanctuary, but not overly so. You have been given standard Peace Keeper Police Units in order to carry out your mandate. But so what if your troop transports are overly armed and armored and resemble tanks more than cargo carriers, and that your “counter-battery” units are far superior to any ordinance in existence on this planet? Its not like these few units would ever be expected to conquer a whole planet, right?

As your units disembark from their planetary drop pods and assume their posts on Sanctuary you chance to catch a local broadcast: the local Believer Splinter Faction is incensed by the arrival of your Peace Keeping units, and is accusing the Hive of “striking a deal with the devil” by allowing Peace Keeper forces to intercede on their behalf. The Hive response is tepid at best, and you begin to realize that this Hiverian leader does not possess the same fortitude that Yang always had in the face of adversity, and that this Hive leader may already be rethinking whether it was a wise decision to involve the Peace Keepers in this “local squabble”….


This is a SMAC game. Standard everything. AIs enhanced considerably via factional editing, base placement, and units available via the default available units.


Directions: download the attached file and unzip into your scenarios folder. Start SMAC, select "Scenario/ Play Scenario", and choose the attached game (SotR). The game will then automatically start as the Peace Keepers.

Good luck to the ACDGers!


Note: for those who wish to download and play this game as an SP Challenge: please feel free to do so. However please refrain from posting any results/ observations in this thread.

[Darsnan]

Scenario Name: SMAC Game of the Month
SMAC/ SMAX: SMAC
Author: Kratylos
Date of original posting: 2/14/04
Original host site: Apolyton

Link does not work properly

Probably the first one on the 'Net. Chiron explorers, check it out now!
more info look ->

http://www.civ.org.pl/smac/gotm/rules.php?lang=Eng

[Darsnan]

Scenario Name: Flo's Morgan Challenge
SMAC/ SMAX: SMAX
Author: Flo
Date of original posting: 11/17/00
Original host site: Apolyton

12/10/11: Link does not work properly: page 66 of 'poly archives

Open challenge for all of us to learn.
You are Morgan on the huge map of planet. Your goal: win the game as soon as possible. By transcending, planetary conquest, or an energy monopoly. It won't be easy; too much riff -raff made it to planet: The Drones, Chairman Yang, Svensgaard and Miriam are your fellow human factions. Last year two alien craft made a landing, too.

Start: 2106

Good luck

[Darsnan]

Scenario Name: The Cha Cha Challenge
SMAC/ SMAX: SMAX
Author: Googlie
Date of original posting: 11/21/00
Original host site: Apolyton

Link does not work properly: page 67 of SMAC archives


It's the season for challenges

It's 2106, and you are Cha Dawn, landed on an inhospitable Chiron.

Huge planet, largely landmass, rare native lifeform, weak erosion and arid. Neighbours are unfriendly and aggressive. Your Cult scientists have no idea what they are doing, so your research is blind. You can't capture a tech on capturing a base, and the Unity seedpod ejector drive was damaged in the meteor collision, leaving just a handful that made it to Planet's surface around the landing pods.

Could life be tougher.

You betcha - the Aliens have also landed.

Now play on

get the file from:

http://clik.to/sparta

[Darsnan]

Scenario Name: ?
SMAC/ SMAX: SMAX
Author: zsozso
Date of original posting: 5/29/09
Original host site: WPC

OK, so in the spirit of open source development (release early, release often, incorporate feed-back), I'd like to present the first work-in-progress (v0.1) version of the scenario.

The attached file contains the scenario as well as all faction and graphics files including an alphax.txt, so it is best to unpack it into its own sub-directory under the scenario directory of SMAX.

The factions:

caretaker based:
hortus - gardener of Chiron, fungus and worm bonuses
pario - builder, constructor, economic power
techtriad - scientist, researcher

usurper based:
chondrichthyes - sea based offensive (latin for shark)
antimind - mindworm, spore launcher, native life offensive
phoenix - air power offense

Please, if you have time to do some play-testing, give it a try and let me know what problems you encounter or what suggestions you have.

***

ooops, I get a database error when trying to upload my 3MB zip file, but it works if I upload the scenario only (39KB) and the text files, so I will limit my upload to that for now...

Some obvious things that need work, and I am open to suggestions for these:
base names
blurbs
leader names
datalinks entries

[Darsnan]

Scenario Name: SMAX - Christmas Complete!
SMAC/ SMAX: SMAX
Author: Larrin and Buster's Uncle
Date of original posting: 12/24/09
Original host site: WPC

Well here it is, after many sporadic bursts of activity, from Buster's Uncle & myself, over the last month or so, x-mas scenario is ready... the scenario is nothing special, just quite an aggressive game, but the factions and graphics will work for a normal game as well... Just follow the easy steps below (sorry about the amount of files, i've not done this before):

1 - Back up your SMAX folder

2 - Unzip the 'Santa's Longest Xmas' in the scenarios folder.

3 - unzip the smaxmas1 through 6 in the main SMAX directory

4 - unzip 'facs' and 'projs' in the same named sub directories in the smax folder

5 - Load SMAX, choose your favorite Smaxmas Faction and enjoy...

[Darsnan]

Scenario Name: June '09 GOTM
SMAC/ SMAX: SMAX
Author: Russia4Life
Date of original posting: 6/1/09
Original host site: WPC

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: July '09 GOTM
SMAC/ SMAX: SMAX
Author: Russia4Life
Date of original posting: 7/1/09
Original host site: WPC

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: December GOTM
SMAC/ SMAX: SMAX
Author: Darsnan
Date of original posting: 12/1/09
Original host site: WPC

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: February 2010 GOTM: "What would Pravin do?"
SMAC/ SMAX: SMAX
Author: bdanv, Alinestra Covelia & Buster's Uncle
Date of original posting: 2/1/10
Original host site: WPC

Peace In Our Time - U.N. Succession

Datalinks: Aphelion Meet (redirected from 10-10-10 attacks)

1. Diplomatic context: Initial projections assumed a period of four to five decades before a full Council could meet. These projections came from calculations based on limited faction motility, helial radiation disturbances, and the slow adoption of ionosphere broadcasting tech. However, the projections failed to account for the presence of Unity resupply pods littering Chiron's surface, many containing data key to sending/receiving commlinks. After establishing face-to-face contact with Believer and Spartan factions, the U.N. communications directorate pieced together enough data from recovered data files in Unity pods and inter-faction transmissions to reestablish ties with all existent factions. The final official "first contact" brought the Hive into U.N. communications in MY 2108.

The quick pace of interfactional contact allowed for global scrutiny over any border disputes, forestalling the worst-case scenario of internecine conflict. An uneasy truce governed the standard year between full contact and first summit. In MY2110, delegates of all council member factions met under U.N. auspices at the Neutral Zone to address the Commissioner's proposed New Charter. The summit drew its name from the Aphelion of Chiron from Hercules B, considered an auspicious timeframe due to reduced native life activity.

2. Aims of the Aphelion Meet: The U.N. agenda planned for the meeting included the following unresolved binding goals: establishment of multiilateral military communications; clear demarcation of border and territorial claims; an up-down vote on adoption of the Unity Charter. The agenda included the following unresolved aspirational goals: opening round of talks to set a cross-border trade regimen; initial outlines of a human rights code; discussions on a universal energy standard; and humanitarian technology-sharing for research vital to Chironside survival.

Gaian agenda: The only other faction to submit a full agenda was the Gaian leader Deirdre Skye, whose agenda mirrored U.N. interests in key concerns, but introduced several measures of binding multilateral limitations to avert the heavy man-made environmental concerns of Earthside industrial development through history. Skye also emerged as a strong supporter of native biomorph research, nominally outlawed under the U.N.'s interim preservation doctrines.

3. Diplomatic results: The meeting successfully achieved several key goals: establishing a common commlink protocol; affirming the Charter's central tenets while leaving key provisions open for revocation at a later date; and the re-establishment of Earthside "energy credit" currencies for uniform economic liquidity.

Surviving records show that the meeting was due to begin a second schedule of talks addressing military cooperation and resolving territorial disputes. The Meet participants were unable to reach consensus before the 10-10-10 Attacks, which claimed the lives of all faction leaders and Meet staff.

4. Terrorist attack: The 10-10-10 Attacks comprised a series of coordinated attacks on the Neutral Zone complexes. Together, they eliminated all seven faction members and resulted in the death by exposure of more than five hundred identified victims. Piecemeal records suggest that the initial attack occurred inside the Meet Hall, with an intentional fire or chemical alarm. This caused automated and manned systems to seal, and to activate oxygenation. Chemical tests from the site show traces of isotopes, likely pumped into the air supply from points inside the security perimeter. The initial contamination gave a lethal dosage of radiation to more than half the Meet staff. Adding to the confusion, many of those lethally affected from outset were key personnel, and thus received a disproportionate amount of first aid and support systems when no remedial effects were possible.

By 2110-10-11, a small remnant of staff were suited against the atmosphere, attempting to overcome the failsafes and possibly dealing with armed aggression. In the evening of the second day, vehicle fire directed by people or persons unknown destroyed the central hall and dormitories. The last eyewitness account recovered comes from U.N. Security Detail Pvt. Nova Sudiwikarmi, who recorded that men in his squad had attempted to exit the compound and come under fire from vehicles commanded by unconfirmed, and seemingly contradictory, factions. Sudiwikarmi surmised that the confusion after the terrorist attack caused many legitimate security personnel to use force in self-defense, at which point distinguishing terrorist from soldier became impossible. Sudiwikarmi's last transmission in the evening of 2110-10-11 describes an attempt to regroup and take control of one of the few mining rovers present as perimeter defense. Sudiwikarmi's body was recovered along with several civilians approximately 13 km from the Meet: each had signs of death by nitrogen asphyxiation save one, U.N. Minister of Education Simi Rosan, who died of a firearm injury and blood loss.

5. Aftermath and global condemnation: U.N. patrols were the first to arrive onsite, owing to border proximity, but were slow to respond to other factions' demands for information. By 2110-10-13, Acting Secretary Sarita assumed ministerial powers in accordance with U.N. succession directives. Sarita released full decedent lists to all factions, but held details of the attack confidential. She also initiated a full-scale review of security measures and numerous depositions to determine terrorist complicity within the U.N. These measures, though justified under the Police Powers act, brought U.N. internal functions to a standstill, further delaying the release of key facts to other faction representatives.

Factual findings of the U.N. investigation were made public 2110-10-15, along with a call for unity in condemnation of the perpetrators of the attack and in resolution to bring them to justice. Sarita relinquished her position after the Electorate ratified Prashanti Lal, sister to predecessor Pravin Lal, as Interim Commissioner. Her first act was the repeal of the Police Powers and the normalization of citizens' personal freedoms. Less than two days later, the interim Spartan military command officially revoked the state of truce between their faction and the U.N., and advised that U.N. personnel encountered on Spartan claims would be subject to imprisonment without trial. One week later, forces under Believer command attacked and overran a U.N. border depot, seizing sensor technology and materiel. Local reports indicated that the depot now broadcast the religious agenda of Reverend Manuel Godwinson. Despite these hostilities, Interim Commissioner Prashanti Lal on 2110-10-33 formally declared her intention to preserve civilian freedoms, even as she passed the bill mobilizing unprecedented forces to defend U.N. borders.

The Gaians under Ailean Skye communicated a statement of mutual bereavement and regret on 2110-10-18, indicating a continuation of formal truce status. No official contacts have been reported from the University, Hive, or Morganites. The state of relations with these factions, and their leadership successions - if any - remain undefined.

* ~ * ~ *

"Sister Lal?" Sarita's soft words brought Prashanti back from her thoughts. "Secretary-General, the meeting is in 20 minutes."

Prashanti turned from the sunset out the window. "Thank you, Sarita. Show them in when it’s time."

It felt strange occupying Pravin's office, being addressed as Secretary-General in his place. Prashanti was no stranger to command; since Planetfall, as Pravin's sister and most trusted lieutenant, she'd issued orders in his name, been his closest counselor.

But with him gone...

Tears began to well again, red in the sunset. The week since the explosion at the face-to-face Planetary Council meeting had been a hectic one. The simultaneous loss of leaders had thrown Chiron into chaos. "Oh Pravi," she thought, desolately.

The task of guiding humanity towards reunification had seemed endless even with Pravin’s resolute hand at the helm, and now... Prashanti wiped tears and opened the dossier on the other new faction leaders.

The faces were all new. Many were taken from furtive angles, or strange lighting, as if the photos were illicit artifacts. Far too little was known for sure - this dark cabinet of humanity's new leaders. Lord Ailean Skye was believed more detached than his late wife; the philosopher of the Gaians. Here was the new University Provost, Iskra Vadima, whose name turned up no results at all in the academic publication archives. Smiling out from the page, the broad face of CEO Chinwemma Morgan seemed oddly out of place, given the solemnity of her rise to power. The Spartan leader, Colonel Sosimo Fernan, seemed oddly friendly for a military man, beaming out from the distance like a jolly uncle, in stark contrast to Manuel Godwinson, whose fiery oratory was already the stuff of legend. And finally, rounding out the seven, the enigmatic mouthpiece of the Hive: Speaker Liren Yang, whose clockwork-regular broadcasts assured the Hive workers - and indeed any other humans inclined to believe her - of the certainty that everything was proceeding to her plan.

Already, these faces were making their presence known in the U.N. corridors of power. Within days, the Spartans and Believers had begun pushing their troops towards Peacekeeper territory, in clear violation of the border agreements. Days when Peacekeepers watched their new leader and wondered if she really had what it took to lead.

Prashanti smiled to herself, despite it all. Turns out, she did. In a democratic civilian government with strong institutions, all you needed to lead in times of war was a damn good general. And Daoud al-Bahraini had been just the damn good general she'd needed. They'd mobilized in mere hours and held the line until the crisis passed.

And people on the holopodes were cheering in the streets, clasping each other and shouting with joy. And chanting. Prashanti brought her hand to her eyes again, but for tears of humbled happiness, not bereavement. They'd been chanting her name.

She smiled and dried her eyes properly. This was no time to be getting soft-headed with pride, or a time to be weeping with despair. Her people were still in peril; they needed her to be strong, sure, and above all, wise.

And as she had promised at the ceremony, she would lead them out of the darkness.

"What," she wondered as always, "would Pravin do?"

The other six factions stories here.

Directions
1) download the zip file 1002.zip and place it into your main game directory. usually this is: C: Program FilesFiraxis GamesSid Meier's Alpha Centauri
2) unzip it.
3) start up SMAX, then select "Scenario", "Play Scenario", and then go to the subdirectory "GotM1002" and choose the scenario.
4) choose the difficulty level and the game will automatically load with the Peacekeepers.
4) if you liked the introductory story, please enjoy the other files in the .zip- they tell the story of how each of the other factions handled the transition. Feedback would be appreciated. They might help suggest creative directions for your AARs, too.



Changelog:

Carrier Deck special ability moved to Doctrine:Air Power.


FACTIONS

This scenario (and the associated stories) was built around the Alternate Gender Leader Project custom factions- which have all been specially modified to fit a realistic sudden power-vacuum situation, not the simple “same persons with their genders switched” that they began as.

#Objectives:

The PKs must conquer six objective bases in order to capture and interrogate the respective governors.
The six cities are:
- Great Conclave
- Judgement Seat
- Penal Colony
- Spartan Citadel
- Manufacturing Warrens
- Sparta Command
There's no need to achieve a standard victory condition in order to be eligible for the GotM Competition.
The scenario can be played at any difficulty level and even though it doesn't have a time limit, you should be able to finish it in less than 100 turns.

POINTS SYSTEM

The standings will be based on the number of turns needed for completion and of course, the difficulty level.
If we have a tie, then the Alpha Centauri score will be the tie-breaker.
However, the games played on lesser difficulty level won't be able to beat a superior level even if finished in less turns.

Example:
let's say we have 4 submissions:
player #1 victory in 2194 as citizen,
player #2 victory in 2196 as thinker,
player #3 victory in 2175 as transcend
player #4 victory in 2195 as transcend.
the standings will look like this:
Final standings - February 2010 AIi, famous among SMACers as the author of Joe, called this set of stories the best thing she ever participated in writing. [shrugs] BU had lost way too many people in the 10 years previous. I think the seven stories are also bundled w/ the scenario file in some format. The very last story in the set ought to break your heart if you have one...


Alpha Centauri 2 - GotM 2010 02 "What would Pravin do?"

[Darsnan]

Scenario Name: March 2010 GOTM: UNSA - United Nations Space Agency
SMAC/ SMAX: SMAX
Author: Mart (w/ art by Buster's Uncle)
Date of original posting: 2/28/10
Original host site: WPC

This month we start in mission year 2150. Pravin Lal is busy with diplomacy, planet wide tensions and a vendetta, but is concerned with technological progress that would take humanity back to space.

Installation:
1) Download the zip file and place it into your main game directory. usually this is: C:\Program Files\Firaxis Games\Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
2) Unzip it, but use "extract here" command rather than "extract to 'gotm_1003_unsa' "
3) Start up SMAX, then select "Scenario", "Play Scenario", and navigate to folder 'GotM_1003_UNSA' that is in your 'scenarios' folder (Game should already be in your scenarios folder).
4) Choose 'Kirkway_UNSA_2150.SC' scenario to play. It is transcend difficulty and you play Peacekeepers derived faction of United Nations Space Agency.

Submission:
Your submission is due May, 9th at 12:00 (Noon) GMT.
You can send a game save one turn before launching the first satellite.

Submission by email:
Bdanv:
borcea [ _ ] dan [ AT ] yahoo [ DOT ] com.
Mart:
marcin777 [ AT ] gmail [ DOT ] com.

===============================================
To: Commander Kirkway
From: Commissioner Pravin Lal
U.N. Headquarters, MY 2150, January 29

Commander, I am greatly concerned that recent conflicts on Chiron threaten
our ambition of returning into space. Therefore, I have created United Nations
Space Agency (UNSA). I apoint you to the position of Agency Director.

I prepared adequate means to build UNSA facilities on one of the islands of
Santa Ana Archipelago, south of Monsoon Jungle and east of Sea of Unity,
which was scouted 10 years ago by Believers. Spartans have already established
a base near Geothermal Shallows. So far, we have good relations with Colonel
Santiago. You can also ask assistance of Lady Deirdre Sky, our long time
pact-mate. Her bases are on Monsoon Jungle coast to the north. Our intelligence
is sketchy, but there is possible Hive activity in the west. I know Yang
can threaten your bases, but still the archipelago is the safest location
for UNSA. There is intellegance of a possible recent drone rebellion in the Hive.
Watch for Hive rebels in the region. Send a patrol to South 2 Airbase Complex,
I will send supplies to that location for you.

Your objective, Commander Kirkway, is to successfully launch our first
satellite into Chiron's orbit as soon as you can.

Good Luck!
Pravin Lal

===============================================
NOTES:
- Use CTRL+F4 to see scenario objectives.

===============================================
OBJECTIVE:
- Launch the first satellite of UNSA in the smallest possible number of turns.
You need to acquire Orbital Spaceflight technology and build a satellite in
one of your bases. Save and submit the turn before one such satellite
would be completed.

===============================================
OTHER NOTES:
- Your GotM score depends on the number of turns you played.
- In case of a tie, victory points determine the winner.
- Hit CTRL+H to home your any independent supply crawler, once it is in a base.
- U.N. Airbase Complex, South 2, has some goodies for you! Use Lal's advice!
- Missile chassis is now available with Doctrine: Air Power.
- Colony pods are disabled. Protect your five bases!
- You are allowed to purchase or to sell a base from/to AI for energy credits
(EC) only. Extortion or gifting is allowed too, but you are not allowed to
exchange a base for a base.

Good Luck, Commander!

[Darsnan]

Scenario Name: April 2010 GOTM: Jihad
SMAC/ SMAX: SMAX
Author: bdanv (w/ art by Buster's Uncle)
Date of original posting: 3/31/10
Original host site: WPC

The psalmist writes in Psalm 24, “The Earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world and all who live in it;” We are all part of God’s creation and the Good News is that God is actively working to redeem and reconcile all of creation. As a follower of God, I must take an active role in my stewardship of God’s creation and in advocating for the redemption and protection of this new Earth that God has blessed us to be a part of.

Planet has spoken to me. In this Promised Land God has given us, there is a special thing; the Planetmind is touched of His essence – a Holy thing, worthy of our reverence.

In First Peter 4:10 We are told: “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” We have done as our Lord has commanded, and He has smiled upon us, gifting our efforts at good stewardship with prosperity. But with this prosperity comes a further duty.

I have studied and prayed upon this since we came together as the Believers of Planet. Our creed is a simple one; we must care for Planet, Mankind’s new home that God has given us a birthright. To do any less, as Man did to Earth, defies God’s Holy Grace and would be punished, as God did Man on Earth – with death. But to be good stewards without faith denies God just as surely!

We are surrounded by the faithless, the blasphemous and the poor stewards. This is an AFFRONT to our Heavenly Father! We, God’s chosen, have a duty to set things right in this Promised Land – God’s new incarnate being; we alone have the true faith and the backing of God. He has anointed us – God has made the humble strong!

Were Deuteronomy 7:1-2 written today, it might read: “When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the world whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many factions before thee, the Gaians, and the Hive, and the Spartans, and the Peacekeepers, and the Consciousness, and the Drones, and the Data Angels, and the Pirates, eight nations greater and mightier than thou; And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them”.

Our crusade against the unrighteous shall not falter; for our faith will sustain us. God commands us that we issue forth and cut off the generations of the wicked. NOW is the time! NOW shall we don the Armor of Righteousness and blot that which is evil in his sight from this Holy world!

Amen.

...


[2132: Peace Conference]

The xenchibi blooms were beautiful.

His staff had done an excellent job, Cha thought. When they’d urged him to have a private dinner with Sister Miriam, he’d insisted on a relaxed setting; he rarely had to deal with people on a one-on-one basis, and he wanted to be as comfortable as possible. The burgundy colors of the wall hangings were muted against the background of old wood. The lighting was low. Mellow music was playing quietly in the background.

The master touch was the extraordinarily robust xenchibi centerpiece crowning the feast laid out on the table. Xenchibi blooms were in common enough use as a decoration among the People of Planet for intimate, social settings – not least for the tranquil, sense-of-closeness effects their spores fostered. Cha had noticed the soothing scent of the impressive bouquet as he entered the room and immediately felt more ready to face the woman already seated at the table... (read more)


[2149: Study]

It was an actual, physical, paper book – and it was massive. White, leather-bound, faint traces of gold leaf remaining in places among the floral pattern embossed around the border of the cover; it was obviously an antique.

“HOLY BIBLE” the title read.

Jezebel Dawn kept running her fingers over it. This… was a treasure! What an astounding sixteenth birthday present to receive from a stranger. Long ago, Sister Miriam of the Believers had sent Jezebel a datapad of the Bible for her 10th birthday; to her puzzlement, Father had insisted that she write Miriam a thank-you note.. (read more)

[2153: Planet Dreams]

In the darkness, something goes >pop<, and you are lying on your back on a hillside among the soft orange and purple tendrils of a vast fungal forest. The sound of running water gurgles loudly in the vicinity of your right ear, but you cannot identify the source. Panic rises briefly in your throat as you realize you have no filter mask or oxygen tank, dressed only in your worksuit, but breath comes easily and you detect no signs of nitrogen narcosis. From somewhere, a voice seems to whisper "earthJezebel," but perhaps it is only the breeze.. (read more)

DIRECTIONS
1) Download the zip file (at the bottom of this post) and place it into your main game directory. usually this is: C:\Program Files\Firaxis Games\Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
2) Unzip it there.
3) Start up SMAX, then select "Scenario", "Play Scenario", and then go to the subdirectory "1004 Jihad" and choose the scenario.
4) Choose the difficulty level and the game will automatically load with the new faction - The Zealots.


OBJECTIVES
For GotM 1004 any square of Planet will count as objective and i will accept any submission regardless of completing the scenario.
Whether you manage to conquer/subvert only one base or loose some of the land you own at the start, you are eligible for the GotM contest.
There's no need to achieve a standard victory condition in order to be eligible for the GotM Competition.

In order to complete the scenario, you will have to reach 950 objectives (squares of territory).
That's almost the entire surface of the planet.

WARNING!
Raising/lowering terrain with the formers is disabled in this scenario! You can't acquire territory this way.


CHANGELOG
The main changes in gameplay are introduced by the traits of your faction - The Zealots.
The are some other minor tweaks, none of them worth mentioning. I will let you discover it all by yourself.
The tech tree remains untouched.

WARNING!
Don’t build an army of conventional units! They are useless because of their combat modifier.
Just go native! Natives are cool. Trust me!

[Darsnan]

Scenario Name: May 2010 GOTM: "Warcrimes: Operation Slapdash"
SMAC/ SMAX: SMAC
Author: bdanv (w/ art by Buster's Uncle)
Date of original posting: 5/6/10
Original host site: WPC

Discussion thread for this scenario: http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?topic=1413.0




War Crimes (by Buster's Uncle - pt.1)

The rover patrol along the disputed border with the Gaians had been routine. Ravi was relating one of his stories about yet another improbable romantic adventure from the driver’s seat, while Lev scanned the landscape from shotgun and pretended to listen. They’d pulled duty together lots of times over the years; Ravi wasn’t a bad guy, if you could stand the bragging. He was a good Spartan.

“So when I put my pants on the next morning, I realized I had 10 more EC in my pockets than I’d left barracks with,” Ravi said, “I don’t remember everything, but she must have paid-”

“BOIL!” Lev shouted, pointing towards a fungus-covered rise.

Ravi instantly slammed the wheel left towards the threat; it was doctrine to attack mindworms on sight, before they attacked you. Lev brought the turret gun to bear and opened fire.

Lev saw the world swirl before his eyes; contracting, expanding, contracting, expanding – whirling - impossible pressure building. He remembered every time he’d been cut in his entire life at once. Ravi’s screams beside him were the hunting cries of great cats. Fangs ripping at his flesh, eating him!

WORMS BURROWING IN THROUGH HIS EYES!

…

Ravi slowly realized he wasn’t dead. He hurt too much to be dead. He blearily realized he was folded over the wheel of the recon rover. Ugh. The worm had counterattacked while they were still in motion and they’d crashed into something. He looked over at Lev.

His mind blanked out again.

…

Ravi didn’t remember sealing his airmask, grabbing the flamethrower and exiting the cabin, but his training had held strong. Making sure of every last bit of the boil was S.O.P. His throat was too raw to scream his rage at the burning remains; there was nothing but pain.

He was looking around to be sure he was done when he spotted the barely-stirring woman lying prone nearby, her hands clutched to her head. Gaian insignia.

It was true then; the Gaians were controlling mindworms for weapons. Unleashing those horrors on people. Killed Lev.

He couldn't even scream as he aimed the flamethrower.


Editorial (by DrazharLn - pt.2)



The Interview (pt.3)

“Commander Santos? I’m Dean Gómez, with Instant Briefing.” Gómez’ eyes slowly adjusted to the dim hospital room as Santos turned from the window he’d been standing at. “I’m here for the interview. How are you today?”

“Gómez… What rank?” Ravi said.

“Lieutenant,” Dean said, “Reserves, of course, but that won’t last with war on the way.”

“Well sit,” Santos said, himself settling on the edge of the bed, tiredly.

“How are you holding up, Commander?” Gómez said.

“I’ve been better and been worse,” Santos said, “The nightmares are pretty bad, still, but I’m okay when I’m awake,” he grinned wryly. “Now, there was this time that I was seeing this woman that- “ He broke off at a sudden loud commotion of voices in the hall.

Gómez’ datapad beeped loudly at the same time. Glancing at the screen for a second, he exclaimed, “The Gaians have declared vendetta!”

The two men looked at each other, surprized. Everyone knew war was coming after the border incident, but no one had expected the Gaians to start it.

“I’m doing fine, Lieutenant Gómez,” Ravi said slowly, “The nightmares have gone away. Tell them I’m ready for active duty; I’m going to kill the Gaians.”




DIRECTIONS
1) Download the zip file WarcrimesOS.zip and place it into your main game directory. usually this is: Crogram FilesFiraxis GamesSid Meier's Alpha Centauri
2) Unzip it there.
3) Start up SMAC (not the expansion), then select "Scenario", "Play Scenario", and then go to the subdirectory "1005 WarcrimesOS" and choose the scenario.
4) Choose the difficulty level and the game will automatically load with the Spartans.


OBJECTIVES
For GotM 1005, any base on the map counts as an objective.
As Governor of the Southwestern region of the Spartan Empire, you will have to conquer all Gaian bases at the west of the Freshwater Sea.
You will be eligible for the GotM even if you don't achieve all your objectives. The minimum requirement is 1 (one) conquered/subverted base.

WARNING!

• You cannot build additional bases in this scenario. The Spartan people are afraid to relocate closer to the Gaian border because of the recent war crimes. You will have to 'clean' the shores of the Freshwater Sea before the colonists will arrive.
• You won't be able to direct the research capabilities of the Spartan Empire or trade techs with the other factions. Remember you are 'only' a Governor! (Of course, you can always steal the precious techs available to the Gaian forces).
• There's no Planetary Council in this scenario. This stuff is only available for the 'guys in the big league' (faction leaders). However you will be able to contact the Gaians using the commlink.

CHANGELOG
Habitat Complex available from the begining of the scenario.

PLAYERS ABOUT THE SCENARIO:
Quote from: Misotu;122426

..The scenario was a clever one - took me ages to get used to it but I enjoyed it once I worked out what was going on!..

POINTS SYSTEM
The standings will be calculated using the following criteria (in this exact order):

1. meaning:
   • number of objectives reached;
   • number of turns needed;
   • AC score.
   1. Example: coming later..
      • On the same difficulty level, the player with most objectives will hold a superior position.
      • On the same number of objectives, the scenario completed in less turns will outweigh the others.
      • If there will be more than one submission still tied, the Alpha Centauri score will decide the winner.

Alpha Centauri 2 - GotM 2010 05 "Warcrimes: Operation Slapdash"