Aldebaran has a home! I've finished the muckety-muck of cleaning up some of the text, and have given it a website here:
http://www.geocities.com/alde_baron/
[News: 9/15/01: Am working on some 'stand-alone' scenarios which require no installation at all to play, thanks to the scenario mechanism. Instead a person can play the scenario which then automatically loads the Aldebaran textfiles that it needs from it's folder.]
[Edit: 9/13/01: The networknode (www.networknode.org) is now mirroring the downloads if any have trouble getting them past the Yahoo Police. Also, SITS has started work on the tech voice-overs and you can find a sampling about dolphins on the webpage.]
[Edit: 9/12/01: A bug got squashed and everything appears to be at this point. Following on this thread is an earlier discussion of what was working, what wasn't , general web and bug fixes, etc.. I'm fairly confident that all is well now. ]
[For the old thread which traces some of the development: Aldebaran Beta Work Thread ]
The game Aldebaran owes it's completion to the Beta team: Kassiopeia (storyline, blurbs), Cybergod (graphics), and Velocyrix, Blake, and Tokamak (playtesting). This is our project, I hope you like it!
Some things to know about Aldebaran:
Aldebaran is a 'patch' of sorts that creates what is basically a whole new game from the shell of SMAC.
Aldebaran can be easily changed back into SMAC and vice-versa. It just takes moving some files around.
There are Novice and Veteran versions of the game, reflecting the need for higher challenges in the SMAC community.
Some features of Aldebaran:
All new techtree, factions, and faction graphics. The majority of the work was done in these areas.
Additional units such as a Super-Carrier for air-power at sea, several new 'native' type lifeforms, and several levels of Chopper.
Enhanced combat system that improves artillery and takes altitude between units into effect, among other things.
A (partial) Comparison of Aldebaran vs. original SMAC:
Aldebaran can be more difficult (and that's a good thing!), especially because it uses 'AI' versions of each faction, which are high-powered versions of the player factions.
The Aldebaran tech-tree is very different than SMAC. For one thing, there are two separate weapons branches reflecting 'conventional' weapons that are powerful and easy to research, and 'psi-based' or mental weapons that are more expensive initially, but are cheaper to manufacture in your units.
Seapower and sea-terraforming are enhanced in Aldebaran, making naval campaigns and aquatic empires more viable.
Aldebaran Social Engineering is based on these categories: Propaganda, Economics, Industrial Protocols, and Industrial Focus.
I could ramble on forever about the project, but hey, that's what the other Aldebaran Thread is for. This much I will say: 1. Thank you everyone! and 2. Don't worry, I'm still quite interested in improving things. So if you have comments, post them here or email me at alde_baron@yahoo.com
Happy Landing Chironians,
Smack
http://www.geocities.com/alde_baron/
[News: 9/15/01: Am working on some 'stand-alone' scenarios which require no installation at all to play, thanks to the scenario mechanism. Instead a person can play the scenario which then automatically loads the Aldebaran textfiles that it needs from it's folder.]
[Edit: 9/13/01: The networknode (www.networknode.org) is now mirroring the downloads if any have trouble getting them past the Yahoo Police. Also, SITS has started work on the tech voice-overs and you can find a sampling about dolphins on the webpage.]
[Edit: 9/12/01: A bug got squashed and everything appears to be at this point. Following on this thread is an earlier discussion of what was working, what wasn't , general web and bug fixes, etc.. I'm fairly confident that all is well now. ]
[For the old thread which traces some of the development: Aldebaran Beta Work Thread ]
The game Aldebaran owes it's completion to the Beta team: Kassiopeia (storyline, blurbs), Cybergod (graphics), and Velocyrix, Blake, and Tokamak (playtesting). This is our project, I hope you like it!
Some things to know about Aldebaran:
Aldebaran is a 'patch' of sorts that creates what is basically a whole new game from the shell of SMAC.
Aldebaran can be easily changed back into SMAC and vice-versa. It just takes moving some files around.
There are Novice and Veteran versions of the game, reflecting the need for higher challenges in the SMAC community.
Some features of Aldebaran:
All new techtree, factions, and faction graphics. The majority of the work was done in these areas.
Additional units such as a Super-Carrier for air-power at sea, several new 'native' type lifeforms, and several levels of Chopper.
Enhanced combat system that improves artillery and takes altitude between units into effect, among other things.
A (partial) Comparison of Aldebaran vs. original SMAC:
Aldebaran can be more difficult (and that's a good thing!), especially because it uses 'AI' versions of each faction, which are high-powered versions of the player factions.
The Aldebaran tech-tree is very different than SMAC. For one thing, there are two separate weapons branches reflecting 'conventional' weapons that are powerful and easy to research, and 'psi-based' or mental weapons that are more expensive initially, but are cheaper to manufacture in your units.
Seapower and sea-terraforming are enhanced in Aldebaran, making naval campaigns and aquatic empires more viable.
Aldebaran Social Engineering is based on these categories: Propaganda, Economics, Industrial Protocols, and Industrial Focus.
I could ramble on forever about the project, but hey, that's what the other Aldebaran Thread is for. This much I will say: 1. Thank you everyone! and 2. Don't worry, I'm still quite interested in improving things. So if you have comments, post them here or email me at alde_baron@yahoo.com
Happy Landing Chironians,
Smack
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