Free Facilities

[Mr. President]

I've been toying with the idea of giving all factions (regular SMAC) a free facility, for instance Energy Banks for the Morgans, probably Biology Labs for the Gaians, and whatnot. But then I wondered if this wouldn't make some people insanely powerful. To stay in character, for instance, you'd probably give the Spartans a free Command Center or some such. But Command Centers from the start = elite units from the start = probable military dominance from MY 2101. Any thoughts on this topic?

[gwillybj]

Using their starting technologies as the basis for choosing their free facility, I submit the following notes and comments for consideration. I think it would be worth investigating if all are implemented concurrently. The only one that looks (to me) to be a wee bit strong is Morgan's free Energy Banks.

Gaians - Centauri Ecology - No Facility. Give Biology Lab from Centauri Empathy = +2 Labs per turn and Alien Lifeform Lifecycle +1 upgrade. With +1 Planet and +2 Efficiency, the Biology Lab bonuses might seem strong, but they make sense: Deirdre is not Granny Gardener. She is a serious scientist.

Hive - Doctrine: Loyalty - Perimeter Defense = +100% Defense. This is already instituted, but hardly helpful unless a very close neighbor attacks early. It does allow him to use those minerals to build 3 or 4 units. With the +2 Growth, those units should be Colony Pods and Scout Patrols for rapid expansion.

University - Information Networks - Network Node = Base Labs +50%. This is already instituted. Along with the +2 Research and extra free tech, it is a very strong bonus. (I wonder if the free tech should be removed?)

Morgan - Industrial Base - No Facility. Give Energy Bank from Industrial Economics = Base Economy +50%. Already has +1 Economy (+1 Energy each base) and Commerce 1. Not really a major advantage considering the population limit. The AI might not accomplish much with this, but the savvy human player will find it easier to Hurry two or three early Secret Projects (the Human Genome Project is a must to help counter Free Market Drones, and the Weather Paradigm to get the various resources tapped ASAP).

Spartans - Doctrine: Mobility - Command Center = Unit Morale +2 upgrade. Already at +2 Morale. Not a big thing, really: It only eliminates the need for the Monolith upgrade.

Believers - Social Psych - Recreation Commons = -2 Drones. This will allow nearly drone-free growth before Hab Complex. Not a whole lot of help otherwise: It doesn't offset her starting negatives (-1 Planet, -2 Research) or enhance her positives (+2 Support, +1 Probe).

Peacekeepers - Biogenetics - Recycling Tanks = +1 Nutrient +1 Mineral +1 Energy at each base. A minor timesaver that doesn't offset his -1 Efficiency and barely helps feed that +2 population.

Overall, not a bad setup. I think I'll give it a go in my next game.

Mr. President: Are you considering these or different facilities?

[Mr. President]

Yep, that's pretty much the arrangement I was thinking. I'll try that too when I get some time and maybe we can compare results.

[gwillybj]

My results with these two factions:

Believers: Nice to get bases to size 6 without drones (it helps that I got The HGP!). That 7th citizen a drone is not a problem, and doesn't slow anything down.

Morgan: Circumstances forced choosing between The Weather Paradigm and The Human Genome Project . I took Weather. I got The Merchant Exchange in an appropriate base. Terraforming quickly (I use Farm+Solar or Forest, depending on rainfall, and Mine rocky terrain - I refuse to use Boreholes or Condensers as a matter of personal distaste) and storing all that extra early Energy allows Hurrying facilities in order to have the Recreation Commons in place before the 4th citizen, avoiding that drone .

[gwillybj]

Proposed: A New Technology

Thinking more on this topic, I have wondered about the prerequisite for Recycling Tanks.

Why Biogenetics? Why not Centauri Ecology? As a child of the 60s/70s I relate recycling much more with ecology than genetics. Even Chairman Yang's disposal of corpses in the "Tanks" is of minimal genetic value, but is ecologically sound, even desirable, by eliminating the need for cemeteries.
With the tech tree in its current form, moving Recycling Tanks to Ecology from Biogen simply trades overpowering one early tech for overpowering another (Facility and Secret Project).

Therefor, I propose a new technology between Centauri Ecology (E1) and Centauri Empathy (E3). Call it something like Centauri Awareness (E2), CentAwe. It is an Explore tech with C,D,B,E values of 0,1,1,4. It is a Level 2 tech with Centauri Ecology and Biogenetics as prerequisites. Its line in alpha.txt would read:
Centauri Awareness, CentAwe, 0, 1, 1, 4, Biogen, Ecology, 000000000
It would take its place in the first available User Tech slot.

Centauri Empathy would then have as prerequisites Secrets of the Human Brain (as now) and the new Centauri Awareness. I would then move Recycling Tanks to Centauri Ecology, and move The Weather Paradigm to the new Centauri Awareness.
Part of this reasoning is because I see The Weather Paradigm as too powerful for any faction to have available from the start, without having to do any research. The other two Secret Projects at Level 1 aren't nearly as much help: The Human Genome Project (that one talent only pushes the need for Recreation Commons off for a few short years) and The Merchant Exchange (a few extra energy credits at one small base).

What does this do for the idea of giving every faction a free Facility, especially if relating that facility to the starting tech?
Give the Gaians the Recycling Tanks, a logical thing. This precludes giving them Biology Labs, as proposed before. Biology Labs are too much too soon, with their Native Life bonus. That should be paid for.
What, then, to give the U.N. Peacekeepers, since it leaves Biogenetics with no facility? I propose the Children's Creche. It is from Ethical Calculus, for which Social Psych is the sole prerequisite. While not directly related to Biogenetics, it fits well with Commissioner Lal's wish to carry on the U.N.'s philosophies - in this case the desire to provide a healthy, safe, and secure environment for all young children.

[Mr. President]

Sounds cool to me! I'll give it a shot, but I'm not a hundred percent sure how to add technologies. It can't be too hard, can it?

[Mr. President]

Done it for my copy of SMAC.

It works well, and it's fun.

[spartak]

I like free facilities. The Network node is way too powerful once Zak has the Virtual world.

[Mr. President]

I like them too, since it means I don't have to build them.

I suppose the University's Network Nodes could be removed, or changed to something else . . . Biology Labs? They might actually be worse in the early years, since you get +2 labs per base no matter what the base was already producing. Hmm.

[spartak]

I do feel that the bonus is too powerful but then I like to play zak so I shouldn't complain.

[gwillybj]

a few tests later...

Greetings, fellow modders

I hope y'all don't mind if I make consecutive posts again. It's just to keep thoughts separate.

I ran a few tests with all the changes I noted above and decided to remove Biogen as a prerequisite for CentAwe, leaving only Ecology. Biogen isn't needed as it's redundant: Brain (the other CentEmp prerequisite) needs Biogen anyway. Also, there are already four other Level 2 techs with only one prerequisite (PlaNets from InfNet, DocFlex from Mobile, EthCalc from Psych, IndEcon from Indust), and my intent was just to push The Weather Paradigm off Level 1. The revised line reads:

Centauri Awareness, CentAwe, 0, 1, 1, 4, Ecology, None, 000000000

The attachment is a symbol I made for CentAwe to replace the default (a numbered lightbulb). I took the existing symbol for Ecology (tech006.pcx) and erased the tree. I took the eyeball from Digital Sentience (tech033.pcx), and reduced it to fit in the center of the circle. Then I made the foreground color green, as it is an Explore tech.
Since I already have other User Techs, mine is in the User 3 slot, so the image filename is "tech081.pcx".
If you would like to use this symbol, go right ahead. Be sure to save the original "tech###.pcx" file (I usually just rename it by adding the letter "z" to the end of the filename, thus: "tech081z.pcx"), then save the new image with the old filename.
If you don't have an unZipper, PM me here and I'll gladly email you the original 4.4KB PCX file.

[gwillybj]

As for the University's free Nodes and bonus tech, adding the free facilities to the other factions offsets them fairly well. Even before these changes, they never really got so far ahead as to run away with the tech lead. I've never been overly concerned about Zakharov getting The Virtual World. He still has to watch his growth. If I was to remove anything, it would be that free second tech instead of the Nodes.

The free Recycling Tanks for the Gaians doesn't seem like much on paper, but that one extra Nutrient can cause a just little bit of a problem with early growth, so be ready to send out Colony Pods more frequently than usual in the early years. Depending on terrain and how you arrange your bases, you might have to send out a pair of Formers to double up on fungus removal to blaze trails and create clearings.

[Mr. President]

Fantastic!

I lean more towards writing than graphics artistry, so I made blurbs for Centauri Awareness:

Quote: "Although science warns against over-emphasizing the uniqueness of the time we live in, all the signs indicate that we are witnessing the dawn of an important age in Planet's ecological history." -- Lady Deirdre Skye, Personal Journal

TechLong: Once the immediate task of survival was achieved, the colonists had time to examine their new home more closely. With increased Centauri Awareness, humans see the first hint of Planet's complexity.

TechShort: "There is more to Planet than meets the eye"

[gwillybj]

The Fruitage of Collaboration

accomplished in spite of informality.
I like the way your texts give the idea that the colonists realize this isn't just another M planet orbiting a G star (Did I get that wrong? ) but something, whatever that may be, is different - very different
Okay, here goes... highlight, copy, paste, save... and the texts are in the game, thank-you-very-much
I wonder if Carolyn Dahl (the voice of Deirdre Skye) is available to record the blurb?

[Mr. President]

You're welcome.

Having Carolyn Dahl record the blurb would indeed be cool, but I don't think I could afford it.