Announcement

**GeoModder** · September 28, 2004, 18:32

Make a half-'separate' research list for aliens/humans, but that works only for SMAX of course.
Playing on smaller then large/huge maps shortens the nut/min rows already.
Let seashelfs have 1 min as a base tile, then on small maps can be put 'sea' factions in SMAC without them being on a too great disadvantage at landbased factions. Gives usually enough space then to let each faction have enough 'room' to found a fair number of bases.

**Chaos Theory** · September 28, 2004, 18:33

I don't suffer at all from the drone display bug in SMAX - I check the F4 screen or the psych display to see what's really going on, and I predict how many drones I should have (give or take 1 depending on the vagaries of bureaucracy), so drones don't surprise me. Given all the annoying problems with SMAC/X, how can this one be so bad?

SMAX also isn't a longer game, and in fact should be a little shorter because of the potent new factions (particularly the Drones) and projects (PEG, CBA), and wave dissociators to break up defense in the midgame. It certainly isn't much longer, as it only adds ~5 techs and 4 projects.

Shortening the nutrient/mineral rows interacts undesirably with SE ratings in growth and industry, but increasing the resources yielded by terrain could have a similar effect. Free facilities (or free facilities upon discovering prerequisites in SMAX) and faster research should speed up games significantly, but be careful not to leave -2 Research factions in too much of a hole early on. Disabling pop booming would have the opposite effect, but I understand many players dislike the feature.

50 years for a game is probably too short without:
Increasing unit movement rates significantly
Increasing nutrients, minerals, and energy quite a bit
Cheapening certain facilities/projects that players might otherwise slow down to produce
Boosting the research rate and keeping it high
Small landmasses
And probably other tweaks

**DilithiumDad** · September 29, 2004, 09:05

GeoModder: Excellent idea about adding +1 mineral to sea squares. I accidentally made the oceans +1 nutrient in my Islanders map (the Inland Sea "leaked" and made all the oceans fresh water!) and this accelerated all 7 factions without creating balance issues. So making the ocean 2-1-0 might just help. Would increase sea base attractiveness, that's for sure!

Chaos: I want to be able to check for drones on the base, not having to pop back and forth to F4. This adds several minutes to each turn from early mid-game and is tedious. SMAC with the XP patch has few bugs. The main factor increasing the length of SMAX, besides additional tech, is the aggressive new native life, especially spore launchers which can undo many turns worth of terraforming. These make SMAX a far superior solo game, but SMAC is better for PBEM. The additional tech takes maybe 20 extra turns to research, but it also slows progress through the rest of the tech, which adds easily 30 more turns. Add fungal towers spreading fungus and spore launchers undoing terraforming and more units and sea bases lost to natives, and I average 60 more turns for SMAX than SMAC.

What do you mean by shorter rows "interacting" with SE settings? Hive on Planned/Wealth has rows of 7 with a standard row set at 10. If a standard row were set at 8, then the Hive's rows would become 5. The 30% bonus becomes a 37% bonus, is that the problem you are talking about? This is equivalent to "rapid production" setting in Civ3 where rows are cut in half.

Shorter nutrient rows would not be a problem with no pop booming. The way I would eliminate pop booming is by assigning Future Society "None" to have -1 growth. This would give all factions -1 growth and prevent booming except with a Golden Age, which would be OK (Demo/Planned/Creche/GA would be tough to maintain in many bases). Shorter nutrient rows speeds growth in the early game, where things are moving too slow, and makes pop booming less attractive. The problem with pop booming is that the exponential growth favors the already strong factions.

The point to turbo-SMAC is to speed up the early game. From reading old posts here, it looks like the best way to do this is to reduce the cost of colony pods to the equivalent of a terraformer (2 rows). This speeds expansion of AI and human factions. To reduce the problem of Infinite Colony Spread (ICS), the minerals produced from the base square can be eliminated (2-0-1 from base square).

Why speed up the early game? Well in PBEM it's hard to get excited about moving two formers and waiting 8 turns to make your first colony pod during which almost nothing happens except mind worm attacks. Things get interesting later on, but many folks quit before getting that far.

The other problem is people giving up when their power bar falls behind. Restricting pop booming and strengthening defense versus offense will make coming from behind to win much more likely. Implementing bonus defense and offense for units at higher elevations will make strategies more complex. Adding move points to naval units (again, this works well in Civ3) and moving hovertanks and conventional missiles MUCH earlier will also help move things along (literally!).

**Chaos Theory** · September 29, 2004, 09:49

Originally posted by DilithiumDad
Chaos: I want to be able to check for drones on the base, not having to pop back and forth to F4. This adds several minutes to each turn from early mid-game and is tedious.

I find just the opposite - it's tedious to check drones in each base, but convenient to check for riots at bases at the F4 screen. I also quickly cycle through my bases to note which ones are about to grow, and check their psych screens to predict whether they will riot, but you can't do that without checking the psych screen anyway.

SMAC with the XP patch has few bugs.

Depends on exactly what counts as a bug. Various tricks such as automating air units count as bugs for me.

The main factor increasing the length of SMAX, besides additional tech, is the aggressive new native life, especially spore launchers which can undo many turns worth of terraforming.

So greet them with scout patrols. Spore launchers are less dangerous because they can't kill your units.

These make SMAX a far superior solo game, but SMAC is better for PBEM. The additional tech takes maybe 20 extra turns to research, but it also slows progress through the rest of the tech, which adds easily 30 more turns.

You act as if the new techs provide no benefits. I can't imagine that those ~5 new techs slow you down 50 years given increased energy with Adaptive Economics and easy war with the wave dissociator.

Add fungal towers spreading fungus

Avoid them, kill them early, send empath scouts, or choke them with forest. Towers only spread fungus to adjacent tiles anyway.

and spore launchers undoing terraforming and more units

More choices. Choices are good and shouldn't slow you down.

and sea bases lost to natives,

Happens in SMAC, too.

and I average 60 more turns for SMAX than SMAC.

Now this I have a hard time believing. How long does SMAC take you? If I do well, I can transcend in ~120 turns in SMAX. I could not do the same in 60 years in SMAC under the same circumstances.

What do you mean by shorter rows "interacting" with SE settings? Hive on Planned/Wealth has rows of 7 with a standard row set at 10. If a standard row were set at 8, then the Hive's rows would become 5. The 30% bonus becomes a 37% bonus, is that the problem you are talking about? This is equivalent to "rapid production" setting in Civ3 where rows are cut in half.

That is not what would happen. The Hive's rows would be of length ceil(.7*8) = 6. Furthermore, a faction with +1 industry would have rows of length ceil(.9*8) = 8, yielding no immediate bonus. I have tested this extensively.

Shorter nutrient rows would not be a problem with no pop booming. The way I would eliminate pop booming is by assigning Future Society "None" to have -1 growth. This would give all factions -1 growth and prevent booming except with a Golden Age, which would be OK (Demo/Planned/Creche/GA would be tough to maintain in many bases). Shorter nutrient rows speeds growth in the early game, where things are moving too slow, and makes pop booming less attractive. The problem with pop booming is that the exponential growth favors the already strong factions.

The point to turbo-SMAC is to speed up the early game. From reading old posts here, it looks like the best way to do this is to reduce the cost of colony pods to the equivalent of a terraformer (2 rows). This speeds expansion of AI and human factions. To reduce the problem of Infinite Colony Spread (ICS), the minerals produced from the base square can be eliminated (2-0-1 from base square).

Sounds reasonable.

Why speed up the early game? Well in PBEM it's hard to get excited about moving two formers and waiting 8 turns to make your first colony pod during which almost nothing happens except mind worm attacks. Things get interesting later on, but many folks quit before getting that far.

The other problem is people giving up when their power bar falls behind. Restricting pop booming and strengthening defense versus offense will make coming from behind to win much more likely. Implementing bonus defense and offense for units at higher elevations will make strategies more complex. Adding move points to naval units (again, this works well in Civ3) and moving hovertanks and conventional missiles MUCH earlier will also help move things along (literally!).

**DilithiumDad** · September 29, 2004, 10:42

Sounds like shortening mineral rows leads to rounding errors. Thanks for the alert!

So how to accerate production? I could give everyone +1 industry by making "Future Society, None" +1 industry as well as -1 growth. If that lessens the Hive's bonus and reduces the Spartan penalty slightly, then that actually favors balance. Plus the +1 mineral per sea square and cheaper colony pods, and I think it would be OK. I could also reduce mineral costs of basic facilities, as some modders have done to favor builder vs conquerer (chop one row off recycling tank, creche, bio lab, perimeter defense and tachyon field).

**GeoModder** · September 29, 2004, 11:12

reduce mineral costs of units for accelerating production as well perhaps.

Or play on a custom sized map of 36x72. The .5 rounding error shouldn't be a problem I think (but I never calculated that, so can't guarantee).

**DilithiumDad** · October 1, 2004, 14:50

DRAFT OF CHANGES IN ALPHA.TXT

HERE IT IS! ANXIOUS FOR ANY COMMENTS!

#RULES
7, 4 ; Numerator & Denominator for artillery fire damage (was 3,4)
INCREASED EFFECTIVENESS OF ARTILLERY
6, ; Max airdrop range w/o orbital insertion (was 8)
REDUCE EASE OF "CHOP & DROP"
8, ; Nutrient cost multiplier, was 10
FASTER EARLY GROWTH
133, ; Technology discovery rate as a percentage of standard (was 100)
0, ; Nutrient effect in mine square (0 or -1), was -1 (helps AI)
100, ; Extra percentage cost of prototype AIR unit (was 50)
5,4, ; Psi combat offense-to-defense ratio (AIR unit defending) (was 1,1)
LOCUSTS MORE OF A CHALLENGE
50, ; Players' starting energy reserves (was 10)
ALLOW EARLY SE SHIFT
50, ; Combat % -> intrinsic base defense (was 25)
25, ; Combat % -> for attacking from higher elevation (was 0)
25, ; Combat penalty % -> attacking from lower elevation (was 0)
12, ; Combat % -> Defend vs. mobile in rough (was 0)
33, ; Combat % -> Infantry vs. Base (was 25)
COUNTER FOR INCREASED DEFENSE BONUSES
66, ; Combat penalty % -> attack after airdrop (was 50)
33, ; Combat % -> Fanatic attack bonus (was 25)
COUNTER FOR INCREASED DEFENSE BONUSES
25, ; Combat penalty % -> Air superiority unit vs. ground unit (was 50)
0, ; Combat penalty % -> Non-combat unit defending vs. combat unit (was 50; favors defenders)
0, ; Combat % -> Bonus vs. ships caught in port (was 100; favors defender)
125, ; Combat % -> AAA bonus vs. air units (was 100; favors defender)
50, ; Combat % -> Defend in range of friendly Sensor (was 25)
15, ; Combat % -> Psi attack bonus/penalty per +PLANET (was 10)
33, ; Retool percent penalty for production change (was 50; favors defender)
RETOOLS MOST COMMON AFTER SNEAK ATTACK, SWITCH FROM BUILD TO CONQUER
5, ; Minimum # of turns between councils (was 20)
10, ; Minerals for harvesting forest (was 5)
5, ; Turns to corner Global Energy Market (was 20)
MAKES THIS VIABLE PATH TO VICTORY!
0, ; If non-zero, humans can always contact each other in hotseat/email games (was 1)
THIS NEVER MADE SNESE!
90, ; Maximum % damage inflicted by arty versus units in base/bunker (was 50)
INCREASED EFFECT OF ARTILLERY
4, 3 ; Numerator/Denominator for frequency of global warming (1,2 would be "half" normal warming).
INCREASED RISK OF GLOBAL WARMING

#TERRAIN
Farm, None, Kelp Farm, None, 2, Cultivate $STR0, f, F
Soil Enricher, EcoEng2, Soil Enricher, Disable, 3, Construct $STR0, f, F
Mine, None, Mining Platform, None, 4, Construct $STR0, M, M
Solar Collector, None, Tidal Harness, None, 2, Construct $STR0, S, S
DRASTICALLY REDUCED TURNS TO COMPLETION OF ALL THE ABOVE TO SPEED UP GAME AND ADD INTEREST
Forest, None, Mangrove, None, 3, Plant $STR0, F, Shift+F
ONLY SLIGHTLY SPEEDED. ADDED COASTAL SEA FOREST.
Mag Tube, Magnets, Mag Tube, Disable, 3, Build $STR0, R, R
Bunker, Poly, Bunker, Poly, 2, Construct $STR0, K, K
DRASTICALLY REDUCED TURNS TO COMPLETION, NOW VIABLE. AVAILABLE MUCH EARLIER (POLYMORPHIC SOFTWARE)
Airbase, DocAir, Naval Airbase, DocAir, 4, Construct $STR0, ., .
Sensor Array, None, Buoy, None, 2, Construct $STR0, O, O
FAST COMPLETION, ADDED SEA VERSION. WITH DOUBLED EFFECT, NO EXCUSE NOT TO BUILD EVERYWHERE!
Fungus, None, Sea Fungus, None, 3, Remove $STR0, F, F
Fungus, EcoEng, Sea Fungus, EcoEng, 4, Plant $STR0, F, Ctrl+F
Condenser, EcoEng, Kelp Factory, EcoEng, 6, Construct $STR0, N, N
FAST COMPLETION, ADDED SEA VERSION
Echelon Mirror, EcoEng, Echelon Mirror, EcoEng, 8, Construct $STR0, E, Shift+E
FAST COMPLETION, ADDED SEA VERSION
Thermal Borehole, EcoEng, Sea Borehole, EcoEng, 24, Construct $STR0, B, Shift+B
ONLY OPTION NOT SPED UP, ADDED SEA VERSION
Aquifer, EcoEng, Aquifer, Disable, 6, Drill to $STR0, Q, Q
Raise Land, EnvEcon, Raise Sea Floor, EnvEcon, 8, Terraform UP, ], ]]
Lower Land, EnvEcon, Lower Sea Floor, EnvEcon, 8, Terraform DOWN, [, [[
Level Terrain, None, Level Terrain, Disable, 3, Terraform LEVEL, _, _
Monolith, CentMed, Monolith, CentMed, 8, Place Monolith, ?, ?, (this is here for map editor)
OPTION TO CREATE MONOLIGHTS AFTER CENTAURI MEDIATION

#RESOURCEINFO
Ocean Square, 1, 1, 0, 0,
ADDED MINERAL FROM OCEAN
Base Square, 2, 0, 1, 0,
SUBTRACTED MINERAL TO REDUCE ICS FACTOR
Bonus Square, 3, 3, 3, 0, * Mineral +1 if mine present
INCREASED VALUE OF ALL BONUSES
Forest Square, 1, 2, 0, 0,
REMOVED ENERGY FROM FOREST. BUILD MORE SOLAR COLLECTORS IF YOU WANT ENERGY.
Recycling Tanks, 2, 2, 2, 0,
DOUBLED BONUS
Improved Land, 2, *, *, 0, "*" columns are ignored entirely
DOUBLED BENEFIT
Improved Sea, 3, 2, 4, 0, * Mineral +1 with Advanced Ecological Engineering
INCREASED
Monolith, 2, 2, 2, 0,
Borehole Square, 0, 6, 6, 0,
NOTE: THESE TWO ABOVE NOT CHANGED

#WORLDBUILDER
NO CHANGES

#WORLDSIZE
NO CHANGES

#TIMECONTROLS
NO CHANGES

#TECHNOLOGY
NO CHANGES

#CHASSIS
Infantry,M1, Squad,M1, Sentinels,M2, Garrison,M1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, None, Shock Troops,M2, Elite Guard,M1,
Speeder,M1, Rover,M1, Defensive,M1, Skirmisher,M1,2, 0, 0, 0, 2, 2, Mobile, Dragon,M1, Enforcer,M1,
INCREASED ROVER TRANSPORT CAPACITY TO 2*REACTOR
Hovertank,M1, Tank,M1, Skimmer,M1, Evasive,M1, 4, 0, 0, 0, 3, 3, Super, Behemoth,M1, Guardian,M1,
INCREASED SPEED FROM 3 TO 4 WITHOUT INCREASING COST. NOW COMES MUCH EARLIER, WITH SUPERCONDUCTOR. NOW A MILITARY MAINSTAY.
Foil,M1, Skimship,M1, Hoverboat,M1, Coastal,M1, 6, 1, 0, 0, 3, 3, DocFlex, Megafoil,M1, Superfoil,M1,
INCREASED SPEED AND CARRYING CAPACITY
Cruiser,M1, Destroyer,M1, Cutter,M1, Gunboat,M1, 8, 1, 0, 0, 4, 4, DocInit, Battleship,M1, Monitor,M1,
INCREASED SPEED AND CARRYING CAPACITY, REDUCED COST
Needlejet,M1, Penetrator,M1, Interceptor,M1, Tactical,M1, 6, 2, 2, 0, 3, 16,DocAir, Thunderbolt,M1, Sovereign,M1,
REDUCED RANGE FROM 8 TO 6 AND DOUBLED COST FACTOR. INCREASED JET TRANSPORT CAPACITY. TRANSPORT JETS NOW MAJOR FACTOR.
'Copter,M1, Chopper,M1, Rotor,M1, Lifter,M1, 5, 2, 1, 0, 2, 16,MindMac, Gunship,M1, Warbird,M1,
REDUCED RANGE FROM 8 TO 5 AND DOUBLED COST FACTOR. INCREASED 'COPTER TRANSPORT CAPACITY.
Gravship,M1, Skybase,M1, Antigrav,M1, Skyfort,M1, 12, 2, 0, 0, 4, 8, NanoMin, Deathsphere,M1, Doomwall,M1,
INCREASED RANGE FROM 8 TO 12, ADDED MEGATRANSPORT CAPACITY 4*REACTOR, REDUCED COST. COMES MUCH EARLIER: NANOMINITURIZATION
Missile,M1, Missile,M1, Missile,M1, Missile,M1, 14, 2, 1, 1, 0, 8, Orbital, Missile,M1, Missile,M1,
INCREASED RANGE FROM 12 TO 14. REDUCED COST CONSISTENT WITH DISPOSIBLE NATURE.

#REACTORS
NO CHANGES

#WEAPONS
Psi Attack, Psi, -1, 2, 6, -1, CentPsi,
SELDOM USED. COST REDUCED 40% TO ENCOURAGE USE.
Planet Buster, Planet Buster, 99, 0,40, -1, Orbital,
INCREASED COST (32 TO 40) TO BALANCE REDUCED COST OF MISSILE CHASSIS.
Colony Module, Colony Pod, 0, 8, 5, -1, None, ; Noncombat packages
COST CUT IN HALF. THIS WILL HAVE HUGE EFFECT ON GAMEPLAY!
Supply Transport, Supply, 0,10,12, -1, IndAuto,
COST DOUBLED TO REDUCE OVERUSE.
Conventional Payload, Conventional, 24, 0, 4, -1, Orbital,
INCREASED ATTACK FROM 18 TO 24 AND REDUCED COST FACTOR BY HALF. NOW TRULY USEFUL.

#DEFENSES
NO CHANGES

#ABILITIES
Amphibious Pods, 1, DocInit, Amphibious,00000101001, Attacks from ship
ADDED AMPHIBIOUS PROBE TEAMS
Drop Pods, -6, MindMac, Drop, 00000111001, Makes air drops
INCREASED COST FACTOR FOR DROP UNITS WITH HIGH ATTACK OR SPEED
Carrier Deck, 0, Metal, Carrier, 00101101010, Mobile Airbase
REDUCED COST
AAA Tracking, -1, MilAlg, AAA, 00010001011, x2 vs. air attacks
REDUCED COST FOR DEFENSIVE UNITS, INCREASED FOR OFFENSIVE
Empath Song, 1, CentEmp, Empath, 00010001111, +50% attack vs. Psi
REDCUED COST
Polymorphic Encryption, 0, Algor, Secure, 00000111111, x2 cost to subvert
NOW FREE
High Morale, 0, Integ, Trained, 00000001111, Gains morale upgrade
NOW FREE
Heavy Artillery, -3, Poly, Artillery, 00000001001, Bombards
REMOVED ADDED COST FOR FAST ARTILLERY. PSI BOMBARDMENT NOW ALLOWED.
Blink Displacer, -6, Matter, Blink, 00000001111, Bypass base defenses
INCREASED COST FACTOR FOR BLINK UNITS WITH HIGH ATTACK OR SPEED
Heavy Transport, 1, DocInit, Heavy, 00100100111, +50% transport capacity
ENABLED
Nerve Gas Pods, -2, Chemist, X, 00011001101, Can +50% offense (Atrocity)
COST NOW RISES WITH WEAPON STRENGTH
Non-Lethal Methods, 0, Integ, Police, 00000001001, x2 Police powers
NOW FREE

#MORALE
NO CHANGES

#DEFENSEMODES
NO CHANGES

#OFFENSEMODES
NO CHANGES

#UNITS
NO CHANGE IN EXISTING UNITS. ADDED:
Cruiser Probe Ship, Cruiser, Probe Team, Scout, 11, 0, 0, DocInit, -1, 00000000000000000000000000
Probe Foil, Foil, Probe Team, Scout, 11, 0, 0, DocFlex, -1, 000000000000000000000000

#FACILITIES
Headquarters, 2, 0, None, Disable, Efficiency
MUCH CHEAPER TO FACILITATE RECOVERY FROM CAPTURE OF HQ
Children's Creche, 3, 1, EthCalc, Disable, Growth/Effic/Morale
PRICE FROM 5 TO 3
Recycling Tanks, 3, 0, Biogen, EcoEng2, Bonus Resources
PRICE FROM 4 TO 3
Perimeter Defense, 2, 0, DocLoy, Disable, Defense +100%
PRICE FROM 5 TO 2
Tachyon Field, 3, 2, ProbMec, Disable, All Defense +100%
PRICE FROM 12 TO 3. USUALLY RUSH-BUILT DURING ATTACK.
Recreation Commons, 3, 1, Psych, SentEco, Fewer Drones
PRICE FROM 4 TO 3
Energy Bank, 3, 0, IndEcon, QuanMac, Economy Bonus
PRICE FROM 8 TO 3, REMOVED MAINTENANCE TO INCREASE USFULNESS
Network Node, 4, 0, InfNet, HAL9000, Labs Bonus
PRICE FROM 8 TO 4, REMOVED MAINTENANCE TO REDUCE VALUE OF UNIVERSITY BONUS
Biology Lab, 2, 0, CentEmp, Disable, Research and PSI
PRICE FROM 6 TO 2, REMOVED MAINTENANCE TO INCREASE USFULNESS
Skunkworks, 4, 1, Subat, Disable, Prototypes Free
PRICE FROM 6 TO 4
Hologram Theatre, 3, 2, PlaNets, Disable, Psych and Fewer Drones
PRICE FROM 6 TO 3, REDUCED MAINTENANCE TO REDUCE VALUE OF VIRTUAL WORLD PROJECT
Paradise Garden, 3, 0, SentEco, Disable, +2 Talents
PRICE FROM 12 TO 3, REMOVED MAINTENANCE TO INCREASE USFULNESS
Research Hospital, 6, 3, Gene, Disable, Labs and Psych Bonus
PRICE FROM 12 TO 6
Nanohospital, 24, 4, HomoSup, Disable, Labs and Psych Bonus
PRICE FROM 24 TO 12
Pressure Dome, 3, 0, DocFlex, Disable, Submersion/Resources
PRICE FROM 8 TO 3. USUALLY BUILT UNDER DURESS.
Command Center, 3, 1, Mobile, Disable, +2 Morale:Land
PRICE FROM 4 TO 3
Naval Yard, 3, 1, DocInit, Disable, +2 Morale:Sea, Sea Def +100%
PRICE FROM 8 TO 3, REDUCED MAINTENANCE TO INCREASE USFULNESS
Bioenhancement Center, 5, 1, Neural, Disable, +2 Morale:ALL
PRICE FROM 10 TO 5,REDUCED MAINTENANCE TO INCREASE USFULNESS
Centauri Preserve, 4, 0, CentMed, Disable, Ecology Bonus
PRICE FROM 20 TO 4,REMOVED MAINTENANCE TO INCREASE USFULNESS
Temple of Planet, 4, 0, AlphCen, Disable, Ecology Bonus
PRICE FROM 20 TO 4,REMOVED MAINTENANCE TO INCREASE USFULNESS
Psi Gate, 5, 0, Matter, Disable, Teleport
PRICE FROM 10 TO 5,REMOVED MAINTENANCE TO INCREASE USFULNESS
Stockpile Energy, 0, 0, None, Disable, Minerals to Energy
The Human Genome Project, 30, 0, Biogen, Disable, +1 Talent Each Base, -1, 0, 0, 1, 1,
PRICE INCREASED 20 TO 30
The Command Nexus, 40, 0, DocLoy, Disable, Command Center Each Base, 1, 2, 0,-1, 0,
PRICE INCREASED 20 TO 40
The Weather Paradigm, 40, 0, Ecology, Disable, Terraform Rate +50%, 0, 0, 0, 2, 1,
PRICE INCREASED 20 TO 40
The Virtual World, 40, 0, PlaNets, Disable, Network Nodes Help Drones, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0,
PRICE INCREASED 30 TO 40
The Ascetic Virtues, 40, 0, PlaEcon, Disable, Pop. Limit Relaxed; +1 POLICE, 0, 0, 0, 1, 2,
PRICE INCREASED 30 TO 40
The Longevity Vaccine, 40, 0, BioEng, Disable, Fewer Drones or More Profits, 0, 0, 0, 2, 1,
PRICE INCREASED 30 TO 40
The Hunter-Seeker Algorithm, 60, 0, Algor, Disable, Immunity to Probe Teams, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0,
PRICE INCREASED 30 TO 60
The Cyborg Factory, 60, 0, MindMac, Disable, Bioenh. Center Every Base, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0,
PRICE INCREASED 40 TO 60
The Network Backbone, 60, 0, DigSent, Disable, +1 Lab Per Commerce/Net Node, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0,
PRICE INCREASED 40 TO 60
The Cloning Vats, 80, 0, BioMac, Disable, Population Boom At All Bases, 0, 0, 0, 1, 2,
PRICE INCREASED 50 TO 80
The Space Elevator, 60, 0, Solids, Disable, Energy +100%/Orbital Cost Halved,0, 0, 2, 2, 0,
PRICE INCREASED 50 TO 60
The Singularity Inductor, 120, 0, ConSing, Disable, Quantum Converter Every Base, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0,
PRICE INCREASED 60 TO 120
The Telepathic Matrix, 120, 0, Eudaim, Disable, No More Drone Riots; +2 PROBE, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1,
PRICE INCREASED 60 TO 120
The Voice of Planet, 180, 0, Thresh, Disable, Begins Ascent To Transcendence, 0,-2, 2, 2, 1,
PRICE INCREASED 60 TO 180
The Ascent to Transcendence, 600, 0, Thresh, Disable, End of Human Era, 0, 0, 2, 2, 2,
PRICE INCREASED 200 TO 600

#ORDERS, #COMPASS, #PLANS, #TRIAD, #RESOURCES, #ENERGY
NO CHANGES

#CITIZENS
Transcend, Transcendi, AlphCen, Disable, 2, 2, 3, 0000000
CUT RESEARCH BONUS FROM 4 TO 3 TO SLOW FRANTIC ENDGAME.

#SOCIO
Fundamentalist, Brain, ++MORALE, ++PROBE, -RESEARCH
SELDOM USED. BOOSTED MORALE BENEFIT, CUT RESEARCH PENALTY.
Power, MilAlg, ++MORALE, ++SUPPORT, --RESEARCH
SELDOM USED. SWITCHED PENALTY FROM INDUSTRY TO RESEARCH.
None, None, ++INDUSTRY, -GROWTH
Cybernetic, DigSent, ++EFFIC, ++PLANET, ++RESEARCH, ---POLICE, ++INDUSTRY
Eudaimonic, Eudaim, ++GROWTH, ++ECONOMY, ++++INDUSTRY, --MORALE
Thought Control, WillPow, ++POLICE, ++MORALE, ++PROBE, -SUPPORT, ++INDUSTRY
TRICK HERE IS TO HAVE +2 INDUSTRY FOR ALL FACTIONS THROUGHOUT GAME AND PREVENT NON-GA POP BOOM BEFORE FUTURE SOCIETY

**DilithiumDad** · October 1, 2004, 15:09

GOALS

The goals of the mod are to:
1. Speed up the early game, which can be boring and take months without expert acceleration by a CMN.
2. Reduce the "strong get stronger, weak get weaker" tendencey of the midgame, as people go into pop booming, monopolizing secret projects, and rapid chop & drop conquests.
3. Remove the tendency of the first person to reach airpower to win automatically.
4. Bring cool units like hovertanks and gravships earlier in the game so they can actually be used. Make missiles more useful.
5. Restore builder versus conquerer balance (favoring builder and defense over offense).
6. Slow the endgame.
7. Boost the AI, at least a little bit.

**DilithiumDad** · October 1, 2004, 17:37

Repost from fluxionman

Re: Seeking input on custom mod for SMAC PBEM Inflate your Upload Space

quote:
Originally posted by DilithiumDad
The goals of the mod are to:
1. Speed up the early game, which can be boring and take months without expert acceleration by a CMN.

Move more options to techs lower on the tech tree so that players begin with more options. Decrease the nutrient cost requirement to speed base growth.

quote:
2. Reduce the "strong get stronger, weak get weaker" tendencey of the midgame, as people go into pop booming, monopolizing secret projects, and rapid chop & drop conquests.

Give all factions a techshare of 4. Increase the cost of SPs. Move Tachyon Field back so that it's available earlier to make bases harder to blitz. Increase penalty for attacks after airdrop to discourage rolling assaults.

quote:
3. Remove the tendency of the first person to reach airpower to win automatically.

Increase AAA bonus. Reduce air superiority vs. ground percentage. Reduce needlejet movement and increase reactor values, so that units start slow but get faster later in the game.

quote:
4. Bring cool units like hovertanks and gravships earlier in the game so they can actually be used. Make missiles more useful.

A minor redesign of the tech tree can bring hover and grav units forward. I find missiles more useful when their range is increased, and their attack value and cost reduced. They then become effective for long-range bombardment but do not replace direct attacks.

quote:
5. Restore builder versus conquerer balance (favoring builder and defense over offense).

Increase intrinsic base defense, sensor defender bonus, infantry vs. mobile in rough bonus.

quote:
6. Slow the endgame.

Create some custom techs to spead out later discoveries (grav, singularity, Voice of Planet, et. al.).

quote:
7. Boost the AI, at least a little bit.

Heh. Good luck. Designate an AI faction (or two), give it an early-game advantage (such as a support bonus), and let it get ahead before human players take over.

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**DilithiumDad** · October 1, 2004, 17:38

Reply to fluxionman

Great Minds think alike!

quote:
Originally posted by fluxionman

Move more options to techs lower on the tech tree so that players begin with more options.

**Moved bunker to polymorphic, hovertank to superconductor, and gravship to nanominiturization. Other suggestions?

Decrease the nutrient cost requirement to speed base growth.

**Done! Reduced nutrient row size to 8.

Give all factions a techshare of 4.

**So far I am trying to do all the changes in alpha.txt to avoid changing every faction file. Techshare reduces the incentive to build your own research facilities and works against builders, anyway.

**Instead, I increased research rate by 33%.

Increase the cost of SPs.

**Done! Most valuable ones doubled in cost, while less popular ones like Xenoempathy Dome I left alone.

Move Tachyon Field back so that it's available earlier to make bases harder to blitz.

**I thought about this but it might be unbalancing with all the other defense boosters. Instead, I drastically reduced the cost of Tachyon Fields. But it probably wouldn't hurt to move it from level 6 armor tech to level 4 armor tech (Silksteel).

Increase penalty for attacks after airdrop to discourage rolling assaults.

**Done! Increased from 50% to 66%.

Increase AAA bonus.

**Done! Increased from 100% to 125%. Also, redcued cost for AAA on units with high armor and increased cost on units with high weapon.

Reduce air superiority vs. ground percentage.

**Done! Decreased from 50% to 25%. Also eliminated non-combat penalty, since formers are weak enough.

Reduce needlejet movement

**Done! Decreased from 8 to 6. Reduced 'copter from 8 to 5.

and increase reactor values, so that units start slow but get faster later in the game.

**Intriguing idea. Increase quantum reactor from 3 to 4 and increase singularity from 4 to 6? Would that work?

A minor redesign of the tech tree can bring hover and grav units forward.

**I didn't want to change the tech tree itself, because that would be too much of an adjustment for people. I just altered the tech required for the chassis.

I find missiles more useful when their range is increased, and their attack value and cost reduced.

**Increased range from 12 to 14 and cut cost in half, check. But I INCREASED attack from 18 to 24 rather than reducing it. The reason is that with greater defense bonuses for bases and sensors, people would get frustrated with "indestructible" units. Now just about anything can be destroyed with a missile or artillery followed by missile. I don't find that a problem because missiles are single use.

They then become effective for long-range bombardment but do not replace direct attacks.

**I want to see people using a mix of units instead just chop & drop.

Increase intrinsic base defense, sensor defender bonus, infantry vs. mobile in rough bonus.

**Done! Increased defense bonus from 25% to 50% for both instrinsic base and sensor, added mobile in rough defense of 25%, and also reduced terraformer turns required to build a sensor to 2. I also added sea sensors, but I understand they work as detectors only and do not provide defense bonus.

Create some custom techs to spead out later discoveries (grav, singularity, Voice of Planet, et. al.).

**This is a good idea. "Advanced Singularity Mechanics" for example. Would require editing the datalink entry, though, wouldn't it?.

Heh. Good luck. Designate an AI faction (or two), give it an early-game advantage (such as a support bonus), and let it get ahead before human players take over. [

**That last one would require editing the faction files. But one idea I had was to designate three factions as AI-only and limit humans to 4 choices. Nominations for AI-only are:

Believers (most unpopular)
Hive (relatively unpopular but best AI faction)
University (too popular and overpowered in human hands)

The super-AI factions could all be given a preference for police state politics, which would make them ally with Yang (leader of the AI gang) and hate the humans, who would mostly be running Demo.

No, it's hopeless	0.00%	0 votes
Maybe, if it's really good	50.00%	2 votes
Definitely	50.00%	2 votes

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