State of Play?

[Kinjiru]

Hi All - I've been away from SMAC and gaming in general for several years, but the progression of years has come back around to giving me more free time again. SMAC was always my fav and I'm eager to get back in. What is the general state of play these days? What the best mods to be running? Has the metagame evolved so much that Vel's guide (from ye olden days) is out of date?

[gwillybj]

Welcome Home!

For me, Vel's Guide is definitely still relevant. I haven't seen anything come even close to its depth and detail.
Multi-play and solo-play each still have hardy and hearty (and headstrong) followers.
There are a few different mods out there now. Here's a list from another site (which I will identify later):

• SMAC v.4 SMAX v.2 (or previous versions) (official)
• XP Compatibility patch (official)
• GOG (Good Old Games aka gog.com) version for Windows (official)
• Scient patch (unofficial)
• Kyrub's latest patch (unofficial)
• Yitzi's latest patch (unofficial)
• AC for Mac (official)
• AC for Linux (official)
• GOG version for Mac (official)
• No patch (original out-of-the-box version)

I run Yitzi's latest patch because, I believe, it's the most comprehensive, and it has proven to be stable at its current Version 3.5d.
The most recent Game of the Month (Fusion Power is NOW!) was posted on April 2. The "competition" ran until June 30.

The other site I mentioned above is Alpha Centauri 2: http://alphacentauri2.info.
That site is a veritable gold mine with an active searchable Forum, a Downloads page, and an invaluable Resource Center:
The Downloads page has

• Patches
• Modifications
• Scenarios
• Maps
• Language packs
• Utilities
• Accessories

The Resource Center has

• A complete mirror of the original Firaxis AC Site
• An archive of the Alpha.owo forum
• An AC Wiki
• A Strategy Guide (Beginner's Getting Started Strategy Guide)
• Custom Factions (Custom Factions, extensive art modding tutorials and art modding goodie files, like bare shields)

I highly recommend joining http://alphacentauri2.info and asking your questions there, too. Apolyton and AlphaCentauri2 aren't in competition with one another. They consider each other sister sites. AlphaCentauri2 is almost like a daughter of Apolyton.

[Northstar1989]

Has the metagame evolved so much that Vel's guide (from ye olden days) is out of date?

Where can I find this mythical Vel's guide?

I've been playing SMAX so long (and Civ and other 4X games in general) so long I probably already know most of what's in it. But I imagine it still has a few useful gems, even for a SMAX-veteran like me (and maybe some useful insights into expansion-free games, since I've played with the expansion installed since day 1, even if usually only with the vanilla 7 factions...)

[Buster Crabbe's Uncle]

http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=downloads;sa=view;down=91