Aldebaran 2: Smax

[smacksim]

Endgame, I'm going to need as much help as you can give r/e the Dos problems, because I can't re-create the problem on my end. I will do some clean-up (compact some of the .bats), and add comments (::comment), and further avoid environment variables. I'll post this clean edition late tonight I hope.

I'm just stuck on:

PAUSE
copy .\data\%file%.txt .\data\%file%2.txt
:MUNCH
copy KEEPME.txt + .\data\%file%.txt DATA.BAT > NUL 
call DATA.BAT 
type DATA.BAT | find /v "FILESWAPPER.BAT" > .\data\%file%.txt 
copy .\data\%file%.txt NUL | find "0" > NUL 
if errorlevel 1 goto MUNCH
:DONE

from swapmotor.bat. I don't see what would be causing :MUNCH to be continuously called unless the errorlevel was always 1. I'll research error levels a bit further.

-S

[Darsnan]

I am going to be OOT starting this evening and lasting till Sunday est (taking the wife and kids to Niagara Falls!). I'm at work right now and can't remember if I saw it or not, but is there a readme.txt file for Aldebaran? If so, I could print it out and take it with me.
From a CMN and Creator's perspective, I am half of mind to print out the alphax.txt file and take that with me for reading material on the journey there and back again, but the other half of my mind doesn't want to spoil any surprises you may have in store for the players.
We'll see. Regardless, FYI that I will be incommunicado over the next several days.


D

[smacksim]

Thanks Darsnan for the mini-update, and have a blast at the falls. I'll be passing through there in a few weeks myself, with my brother and sister-in-law.

You could print out the alphax.txt or the readme. You could rewrite the alphax.txt comparison from the strategy guide, which only compares SMAC alpha and Aldeb-1 alpha at the moment

See ya in awhile. Maybe I'll have the installer fixed for all DOS by then.

-S

[khslinky]

I downloaded Aldebaran 2.0.3 last night, and it seems to work fine. I'm running it on Linux, so I couldn't use your installer, but the installation was fairly straightforward. For anyone else running Linux who wants to try this, you'll need to:

1) download the files-only archive and unzip it somewhere
2) convert the text files to unix-style endlines
(dos2unix *.txt)
3) copy them into the data/ subdirectory of your smacx installation
(you might want to make a separate smacx install first)
4) make sure you have read permission on all of the new files
(chmod +r *.txt *.pcx)

I haven't played it much yet, but I'm really enjoying it so far. The tech tree presents a lot of interesting choices. At the moment, I'm beelining to Field Manipulation for the Transmitter Trials, which I think is a good strategy in the long run, but I really miss being able to build farms in my early expansion. I'm actually building a pressure dome (don't have recycling tanks yet) in one base to keep it from bouncing between one and two population.

[smacksim]

I'm glad you are enjoying it khslinky. There is still lots left to do to polish it. I may some day write a shell script for the installer, but as you say, it's a simple enough matter to have an extra install of Smax for most people. If you think I can clean it up any more to work with Linux and Windows on the same download, let me know. (endline trimming comes to mind). I'm glad you are enjoying it.

All the 'Field' techs are very important early on for people looking for Crawlers, Labs facilities, and energy restriction lifting.

Enjoy it,

Smack

[smacksim]

More Journaling of a Developer

Pushed Covert Ops Center back a bit, as well as Pressure Dome. This focuses the AI a bit more on building Network Nodes and Rec Commons early. The Pressure Dome, though expensive, was too early and allowed the player to forgo researching Human Ecology for a long time, a tech that isn't on other important B-lines.

Testing the AI today with the changes. Nice to see that everyone is causing ecodamage around 2170 on a Huge map. I also moved the (1)-<4>-4 Aircraft Carrier away from "Projectiles in Practice" --> "The Bernouli Principle"

Put some of the AI results over here
They are doing well, my pets.

I thought I'd take an opportunity to explain some of the humor found in the game, though of course, humor explained isn't very funny . I've kept all the placeholder names from Aldebaran-1, such as 'Mystery Food' and 'The Fungus Amongus'. Originally, some of these were to be changed, like the faction names, which bug me the most (Planetlover-The Lovers, The Peacemakers, the Nauticon), but some of the names I grew to like. Things like 'The Greatest Game' instead of the Virtual World are little references to Smac itself. Others like 'The 'Dozer Factory' for the Weather Paradigm are because I thought the original name was even sillier or more off point. Some techs like 'Chiron's Legacy' seem quite nice, whereas 'The Wheel' for discovering how to build rovers is understandably too droll. But all in all, I feel like a total rewrite of Smac should have humor in it. After all, most anyone who plays Aldebaran will be a Smax veteran.

On the other hand, I really do feel that Aldebaran is a better game than Smax. Those things that the playtesters didn't catch, like chopper-abuse or crawler-centric strategies are addressed in Aldebaran. There are super-AI that add a whole 'Level above Transcend'. There are many changes that really do improve the AI performance. I don't want to sell Aldebaran short or cheapen it just because people don't find my jokes funny . I suppose it's time to remove the jokes. Damn. I'm keeping some of them though...the subtler ones: The Velocyrix Wall, The Greatest Game, The Xenobannana Jungle, etc.. These shouldn't interfere too much with people taking it seriously overall.

And no, I'm not taking Commy's post too seriously. But Darsnan's reaction reminds me of other playtesters being a little put-off by the humor. Expect to find it gone in 2.0.4 or 2.0.5

Speaking of which, I'll upload 2.0.4 tomorrow. It incorporates the new Worldbuilder changes, the facility adjustments, and some faction renaming I did to make it much more obvious whether a loaded faction is SAI-Super AI, or just a regular Aldebaran Faction. I did manage to fit in all 7 major SAI factions and 3 of their regular counterparts: Outlaws, Planetlovers, Peacekeepers. The SAI factions display Outlaw-SAI in the Smax faction picking menu, while the normal version just says Outlaw, etc.

-S

[smacksim]

Version 2.0.4 is up. I didn't re-compile with an installer, since the installer seems to be giving headaches to people.

Aldebaran2.0.4

From the readme:

Installing Aldebaran: This download has only the files you need. Place the files into your Smax directory. (Edit: Take the files out of their containing folders. don't just move the folders) This WILL replace original files, so either have a second install of Smax or backup your original textfiles. The graphics do not disturb Smax-vanilla. They can be left in the main folder even if you uninstall the .txt files. Enjoy-Smack


Notes on 2.0.4:

Super-AI factions now declare themselves more obviously with suffix SAI in the menus
Fit in 3 Aldebaran regular factions for players to play (the rest you have to add to #CustomFactions yourself if you want to play the human version)
The Player Factions currently available: Outlaws, Planetlovers, Peacemakers

Better Worldbuilder
Cleaner Graphics
Facilities: Pressure Dome, Probe Facility: Pushed back in tech tree
Ascent to Transc: Reduced from 2000 minerals to 600
A few more changes.

Hope you like it. I'll be doing some text-editing for the upcoming 2.1. Let me know if you can beta-test, can help me finish the installer, or if you have any other feedback about the game.

-Smack

[khslinky]

Originally posted by smacksim
The Pressure Dome, though expensive, was too early and allowed the player to forgo researching Human Ecology for a long time, a tech that isn't on other important B-lines.

I haven't even developed a decent strategy for this game, and I already have to re-examine it. Ah well, it's probably for the best: In the game I described above, I had numerous bases with Pressure Domes by the time I researched Human Ecology. I also completed the 'Dozer Factory pretty quickly after I got the Transmitter Trials, so I gained the ability to make condensers at around the same time I learned how to farm. If I'd been thinking about it more clearly, I might have left Human Ecology until after I had ASUs, but I'm still new to this (challenging but fascinating) tech tree.

As a side note, I've enjoyed a lot of the humor, but I don't think I'm getting all of it (probably because I haven't been hanging around here long enough). Is the purpleator a joke? Does it actually mean something other than "a device that makes things purple"?

[smacksim]

Na. The Purpleator is definately just a place-holder name. Perhaps it will get named after a beta-tester? Some of the weapon graphics make me laugh a little, hence 'Fungal Jumpsuit' for Plasma, and 'Purpleator' for a big purple gun. Glad you are enjoying it.

One area that's going to need lots of playtesting is the water-base strategies, including the pressure dome. I had to add on the three new Smax base facilities for the ocean. Ocean terraforming was already strong in Aldebaran for Smac, so I'm a little afraid that it's now too strong.

After your last post I went and played a couple single player games and ended up making pressure domes in all my bases before discovering Human Ecology. As it's been 3 years since the first version, I don't even remember why pressure domes didn't have a prerequisite tech. Perhaps just to give the AI something to build. I don't know. For now, Human Ecology is a good place for them, along with Recycling Tanks. This tech is quite off the path for Supply Crawlers (ASU's), but is in line with other important things. The general idea is to make a b-line for ASU's possible, but rather narrow-minded. There are other strategies such as sea-terraforming or general ICSing or perhaps pop-booming that will tempt the veteran Smac'er, and rightly so

I hope you like the new graphics and menu-choices for factions. I finally figured out some decent color schemes for the Aldebaran 7. All downloads are retro-compatible.

Darsnan and #endgame, where did you get off to? We have enough for a Pbem pretty soon

-Smack

[Darsnan]

Originally posted by smacksim
Darsnan and #endgame, where did you get off to? We have enough for a Pbem pretty soon

-Smack

I am here. I've just been real busy: I've got a PBEM that I really need to finish setting up, I've got some articles I need to submit to the CMN's Guide, 3 kids to keep busy during the summer, a 5km race I'm training for, and I'm chasing a little white ball around a well manicured lawn several times a week......
I am interested in a PBEM in this format. One question I have is whether there is a tech tree available for Aldebaran, or is this something that still needs to be documented?


D

[Chaunk]

Well I downloaded the mod, but I'm not gonna use a swapper in case I load a PBEM in the wrong version... I know, it should be impossible, but I still think I could do it without too much difficulty! To install it in another directory, I just copy the entire SMAX firaxis folder to another folder and install it there yes? Or am I missing something?

[Darsnan]

Originally posted by Chaunk
To install it in another directory, I just copy the entire SMAX firaxis folder to another folder and install it there yes?

Heah Chaunk,

I just did a second loading of SMAC(X), and specified a seperate subdirectory structure when installing. I then created a shortcut on my desktop which I named "Aldebaran". FYI.


D

[smacksim]

Darsnan, a soccer-player eh? Me too. So it sounds like you have lots of free time this summer. Only 3 kids?

Chaunk, make a new install of Smax then. I don't know if you can just drag-copy the smax folder or if it wants to actually be installed. I always install from the CD. Then just unpack the files in the zip (some .txt, some .pcx) and dump them in the main Smax folder. Voila. Easier than instant coffee.

-Smack

[Darsnan]

Originally posted by smacksim
Darsnan, a soccer-player eh?

Actually golf. I'm a little slow these days to keep up with the younger kids playing soccer....

D

[smacksim]

Gotcha. Golf. Get the new graphics for Aldebaran when you get a chance Darsnan. Better than no graphics at all (like you had before)