faction editor question

[Travathian]

Curious if anyone knows where I can get help files or explanations for the various options you can choose in the faction editor. I'm looking for concrete numbers here. It seems like most people who make their own factions dont make use of a lot of the more obscure abilities, likely because they dont understand them.

I hate seeing factions that are just plus to this and minus to that.

[SKiller9]

I don't know if there are any guides to the faction editor, but there are plenty of guides for the text files themselves which explain thise same settings.

[Jasonian]

I would recomend editing the files by hand, since the faction editer is... well... evil.

If you have any specific questions, drop them here and I'll see if I can answer them.

[wheathin]

Are there any shortcuts to balancing out special abilities for new factions beyond setting up a test game and letting it run for four hours?

For the SE choices, I add up the plusses and minuses as follows:
2 points each: ECONOMY, TALENT
1 point each: EFFIC, GROWTH, INDUSTRY, RESEARCH, SUPPORT
half point: PLANET, MORALE, POLICE, PROBE

(thus +1 Talent would be offset by -4 Police)

(Yes, I prefer to play builder games - how did you tell? )

But for the rest of the specials, I'm at a loss. How unbalancing is energy reserve interest? techshare? free rec tanks or an Immunity?

[gwillybj]

Travathian:
Each of the options is explained individually in "FACTION.TXT".
For faction editing and creation, there is a program called "ACEdit" that used to be available at "sidgames.com" but that site seems to have disappeared. I use ACEdit as a starting place, but still go into the files it creates for fine-tuning.
If someone is not already hosting the ACEdit zip (version 2.0, 418kb), I can email it. Post a message to me here (public in the thread or private - you decide).

wheathin:
Why balance them? Playing an unbalanced faction (as them or against them) is much more interesting and makes the game that much more challenging, especially if they are under-powered or have a particularly nasty penalty.

[Cybergod]

The NetworkNode (found at http://networknode.org) has loads of stuff on custom factions and even the ACeditor! But I do my faction by hand, carefully reading the FACTION.txt and adding up SE points as follows:

4 points for ECONOMY
3 points for TALENT, PLANET
2 points for SUPPORT, MORALE, INDUSTRY, GROWTH, EFFIC, RESEARCH
1 point for POLICE, PROBE

I found that formula, allong for loads of other things you can add to custom factions at the "Alpha Centauri Custom Factions" site which has been down now for a year or more. Plus I have lost the downloaded file so I create factions and calculate powers from memory!

AFAICR (As Far As I Can Remember), :

FACILITY, # --> tech level facility normaly available * 2 + 2
FREEFAC, # --> 4
VOTES, # --> 3 * #
UNIT, # --> most units that you can give away for free have a value of 1 (exception Locusts, Chopper, Ogre etc.)
INTEREST, # --> 3 * #
TECH, $short tech name --> tech level
TECH, # --> 2 * #
AQUATIC, 0 --> 3
FANATIC, 0 --> 6
PSI --> for every 25 is 6 (eg. PSI, 25 would be 6)
FUNGNUTRIENT/ENERGY/MINERALS, # --> 2 * # (eg. Deidre's FUNGNUTRIENTS, 1 would be 2)
ENERGY, # --> for every 100 is 1 9eg. Morgan's ENERGY, 100 would be 1)
IMMUNITY, $SE factor name --> 4 (eg. Yang's IMMUNITY, EFFIC would be 4)
IMPUNITY, $SE choice (normal letters) --> 4 (eg. IMPUNITY, Wealth would be 4)
PENALTY, $SE factor name --> -2 (eg. PENALTY, POLICE would be -2)
TALENT, # --> 16 / # - 1 (eg. Lal's TALENT, 4 would be 3)
DRONE, # --> -16 / # + 1 (eg. Zakharov's DRONE, 4 would be -3)
POPULATION, # --> -# (eg. Lal's POPULATION, -2 would be 2, while Morgan's POPULATION, 3 would be -3)

I can't remember them all but these should be of use.

[Cybergod]

BTW, you also -1 for every SE choice the faction cannot use in the SE table

In normal SMAC the average number of points each faction score is 5.14 while the average in SMAX it is around 11 so be careful if you want "balanced" factions! Orjust cound the facilities etc. and play the "unbalanced" high risk high reward style!

[Archaic]

Networknode put up the Faction Creation FAQ from that Custom Factions site on their site for download a while back. Here's the balancing formula straight from that. (Tables don't copy/paste well, but you get the idea)

These formulas have been developed to be used as a guideline for creating new factions and to compare the relative strengths of different factions. This is not a perfect system. A higher rating does not necessarily make a stronger faction. Likewise loopholes can no doubt be found. Strict following of these formulas towards those ends benefits no one.


FACTION OPTIONS Power Unit Formulas



Anti-Ideologies -1
Free Technology 1*(Tech level)
Free Facility 2 +2*(Tech Level)
Free Facility (prereq.) 4
Free Vehicle
Locusts of Chiron
Unity Scout Chopper
Battle Ogre MK2
Battle Ogre MK3
Unity Mining Laser
Sea Colony Pod
Colony Pod


1
1
1
2
1
3
3
Social Benefit
ECONOMY
EFFIC
SUPPORT
TALENT
MORALE
POLICE
GROWTH
PLANET
PROBE
INDUSTRY
RESEARCH


4 * (param)
2 * (param)
2 * (param)
3 * (param)
2 * (param)
1 * (param)
2 * (param)
3 * (param)
1 * (param)
2 * (param)
2 * (param)

Robust 2
Immunity 4
Impunity 4
Penalty -2
Fungus Nutrient 2
Fungus Mineral 2
Fungus Energy 2
Bonus Votes [(param) - 1] * 6
Free Facility (prereq) 4
Revolt 1 per 10%
No Drone 2 * (param)
Free Ability (prereq) 4
Probe Cost 2 per 25% (param) - 100
Defense 6 per 25% (param) - 100
Offence 6 per 25% (param) - 100



RULE OPTIONS Power Unit Formulas



Morale Modifier 2 * (param) (4 for param = 0)
Psi Combat Modifier 6 per 25%
Research Bonus Per Base 1 * (param)
Extra Drone Per Base (16/(param))-1
Extra Talent Per Base (16/(param))-1
Bonus Energy Reserve 1 per 100 energy
Energy Interest 1 per 1% up to 5% 2 per 1% over 5%
Bonus Commerce Rate 1 * (param)
Population Bonus 1 * (param)
Hurry Modifier 1 per 10% (param) - 100
Research Modifier 1 per 5% (param) - 100
Share Technology (1 for 6)(2 for 5)(4 for 4)(6 for 3)(10 for 2)(20 for 1)
Select Technologies 2 * (param)
Terra form Bonus 3
Immunity to Mind Control 4
Free Prototype 3
Alien Faction 0
Share Tech W/ Infiltrator -3 Only if share tech is used w/ 4 or less factions
Bonus Comm Freq 1
25% Attack Bonus 6
Aquatic Faction 3
Worm Police 3
Steal Tech 2



Again hear are how the standard Alpha Centauri factions rank with our system. Great care was taken even out the factions in the calculations. Clearly the SMAC factions are weaker then the Crossfire factions. The Crossfire factions are also more varied in their power. This could not be helped without making certain options unreasonably valuable.

Crossfire Factions Power SMAC Factions Power
Consciousness 11 Believers 3
Drones 9.5 Gaians 6
Planet Cult 8 Hive 5
Data Angels 15 Morgan Industries 6
Pirates 6 Peacekeepers 5
Caretakers 16 Spartans 6
Usurpers 13 University 5
Average 11.2 Average 5.14