SMAniaC

[Maniac]

Alien Crossfire required.

Hydro's excel file:

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?postid=4702879#post4702879

[TLF]

It really is a shame that it requires Alien Crossfire.
That is only available for about $70. I won't be buying it.

Are there AI improvements that can be used with original AC?

[Ell_man]

Is anyone else having problems downloading the mod? Whenever I click on the links in the original post I get a file not found message.

[Maniac]

It works for me.

[Ell_man]

For some reason when I clicked on the link it would add a "%3f" to the end of the url. I'm using Firefox3 but I tried it in IE(not sure of the version) and I still had the same problem. Anyways, who cares? I've got it. I'm off to go install it and play it.

[Quadhelix]

Originally posted by Maniac [*]Meaningless tech names. Super Tensile Solids. That can be anything. Pre-Sentient Algorithms: that tech simply says something has NOT yet been developed.

Actually, Pre-Sentient Algorithms would imply Algorithms that are have to potential to become sentient, but are not yet self-aware.

Originally posted by Maniac
Personally I consider Planned-Plutocrat the most weird combination. Though I guess you could imagine Plutocrat ruling elite stands for Bureaucrat ruling elite under a planned economy.

Of course, that does not even come close to the weirdness of Democracy-Thought Control that existed in the original game.

Originally posted by Maniac
I don't doubt the use of fossil fuels. I'm wondering though if it would be useful to recreate synthetic organic fossil fuels.

Given that they are working on the technique in real life, and that fossil fuels are one of only a handful of things that could be used to propel a jet/missile, and that militaries are generally given what they want, then I would say that yes, it would be "useful" to recreate fossil fuels.

Originally posted by Maniac
IIRC children were produced in "hatcheries" in Brave New World, hence the name. Children being produced in exowombs (name from Night's Dawn trilogy) is the best explanation for popbooms I guess.

Well, the best explanation for the pop-boom effect in SMAC and SMAX is that, with their children in a creche (i.e., daycare center), parents have more privacy to make more children. Remember that a Children's Creche does not automatically cause a pop-boom; it needs a fairly high baseline population growth rate in order to achieve that effect.

Also, artificial wombs do not explain the efficiency boost nor the morale bonus.

[vyeh]

We're organizing a SMAniaC demogame playing the custom faction The Genesis Project.

[vyeh]

I was playing SMAniaC using the ACDG6 set-up with a game that had the wrong dimensions (it was 30 by 120 instead of 60 by 60).

The AI Sea Formers does not show up in the Datalinks Basic Unit Types. There is a link for it under Datalinks Tech Advances: Centauri Hydrology, but when I click on it, the entries for the prerequisite techs and the techs that lead from Centauri Hydrology go blank (the boxes are still there).

The date of my alphax.txt file is May 5, 2006, which is the same date as the alphax.txt file in the SMAniaC_Gold download.

I checked the alphax.txt file. This is the entry for AI Sea Formers:

AI Sea Formers, Foil, Formers, Scout, 9, 4, 0, Mobile, -1, 00000000000010000000000001

I do have entries for AI Formers, AI Probe Foil and AI Probe.

Can someone replicate the problem?

[Mart]

I remember, that in regular smax this unit in position 5 does not show either.
*Sea Formers, Foil, Formers, Scout, 9, 0, 0, Disable, -1, 00000000000000000000000000

so it may be no problem at all. AI is probably using it anyway, I don't remember.

[vyeh]

I verified that once I had Centauri Hydrology, AI Sea Formers appeared in my production screen. So the AI can build it.

[vyeh]

Why was the CBA renamed The Bulk Matter Transmitter?

I was comparing the SMAniaC alphax.txt to the standard alphax.txt.

I noticed the following line in the SMAniaC alphax.txt where the CBA appears in the standard alphax.txt:

The Bulk Matter Transmitter, 60, 0, Matter, Disable, Faster/Stronger Air Units, 1, 2, 0, 0, 0,

Where the Bulk Matter Transmitter appears in the standard alphax.txt is the following line in the SMAniaC alphax.txt:

The Solar Power Transceiver, 60, 0, Quantum, Disable, +50% Minerals Every Base, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0,

I can see renaming the CBA (SMAniaC renames a lot of secret projects), but isn't it confusing renaming it to a SMAX secret project, which has a totally different effect?

I think I see the rationale for the name change. Being able to transmit fuel to a plane would give it more endurance and make it better in a dog fight.

[Maniac]

That secret project gives free aerospace complexes. Aerospace Complexes are necessary for building space facilities and reaping the full reward of them. The Bulk Matter Transmitter (some psi gate or wormgate into space judging from the movie) is supposed to make the space industry easier and more profitable. So the name is not related to the effects on aircraft.

CBA placed at MMI in unmodded SMAC is very powerful. So I decided to move it way up the tech tree. The name CloudBase Academy didn't really fit with the tech where I placed it. So I renamed it.

Generally speaking,, I don't like the names of the secret projects in SMAC. So I renamed them. Though looking back, my new names aren't exactly very good either...

While I think SMAniaC is better than vanilla, it obviously is far from perfect. If I were to make a SMAC mod today, it would once again be completely different. As evidenced by Planetfall.

[vyeh]

Unfortunately, I have a Mac and can't even run the .exe files associated with the Planetfall downloads.

Can you point me to any documents about Planetfall, besides The Column article about tech tree?

I'm interested in how a SMAC mod made by you today would be different from SMAniaC.

[Maniac]

Originally posted by vyeh
Can you point me to any documents about Planetfall, besides The Column article about tech tree?

Sorry no.

Perhaps this image showing the left part of the tech tree in XML. I also attached the xls file, but except the position of the techs in the construct tab - which matches the x,y position of the techs in the Civ4 F6 screen - the excel file is not up to date at all, not even the prereqs included in comments.

[vyeh]

In ACDG6, conventional missile basic unit are defined with psi attack. Using the scenario editor, I noticed that the battle screen shows that these attack 0-3-6 transports at roughly 1-3 odds, instead of the 1-1 odds that I would expect for psi attack.

I think this is a bug in SMAX. Was there a reason that the conventional missile basic unit has psi attack in SMAniaC? When I read the description of conventional payload, I was worried about the 6 attack strength (the Ghost have built several mk2 versions using fusion reactors). But these units seem to have only 1 attack strength (which is aggravated by the fact that armor seems to count).