I'm ready for another SMAC/SMAX game.

[Net Warrior]

Either tech setting is fine with me.

[Mart]

I was hoping someone would tip the balance...

[Mart]

I am gonna use my rpg set of dice, not used for many years now

even - tech stag
odd - no tech stag

29, so we do not have tech stagnation.

[Mart]

A question

Would you like to have aditional starting units?
You play on huge map, sparse cloud cover. Before you establish contact with all players it will be many turns. More units will speed up early growth. and also will make these first turns last longer than a minute

====
I have just completed the map and decided for starting locations.
Next will be placing factions and playtest for balance.
You may pm your prefered passwords
Game title:
Human Crossfire
Unless you have another in mind, I made it for possible Aliens, that would have to face threat from human factions, but we have no aliens now.

[Net Warrior]

It's usually nice to start off with a few formers as extra units but since the Gaians are in the game that would disadvantage them. The same objection would apply to rovers as speeding up exploration is (with a caputred native) a Gaian strength. Maybe an extra colony pod wouldn't unbalance things though.

BTW, I was just reading a post game ACDG thread where Googlie and Kata were talking about new ways to rush build facilities using crawler upgrades and/or turning the governor on and off. I presume we're prohibiting those type actions in our game, along with the usual stuff like the no stockpiling energy exploit, etc.

[Mart]

Please discuss the proposed rules. Also additional ones as in the last post
Rules

• Any base, human or AI, cannot be attacked by single copter or two copters more than 2 times in a single turn.
  ---
• Upgrades using the design workshop can only be done at the end of the turn. This to prevent upgrading eg a simple scout rover to the best modeal available and let it attack the same turn - makes it harder to defend
• Retro-engineering allowed, except for using basic unit types such as probe teams, AI formers, etc...
• Social Engineering settings may be changed only once per turn. No “quickie” changing.
• Stockpiling in Build Queues notallowed at any time
• Multiple drops or orbital insertions using the right-click menu is forbidden. So is airdropping from outside a base/airbase, or after having moved (except on a magtube) using the same method.
• Base growth through Colony Pods - can be used to increase a base size up to the applicable pre-facility limit, but cannot be used to breach that limit without the facility being built.
• Psi (or any other) units cannot be assigned multiple waypoint patrol routes (to avoid instant demon boil bug)
• It is not allowed to set the home base (Control-h) for a unit to be the base of another faction when the diplomatic stance is pact. The unit will then require no support from either faction.
• No base trading with the AI. Extortion and gifting is allowed.
• It is not allowed to trade technology to AIs in exchange for credits if as a result the AI's energy reserves would go into the negative.
• Cannot change an infiltrated faction's workers to specialists, for example by using the F4 screen (or the bases icon of the F2 screen)
• Transparent Commlink Logs - It is forbidden for any player, whether playing the turn or just browsing the .sav, to open a .sav file (current or past) with a text reader program (eg word, wordperfect, notepad, etc etc) as the in-game commlink exchanges are embedded in text in the .sav file and can be read by anyone. For that reason, and also to keep the save file size low, it's highly recommended to do all private communications per e-mail.
• It is forbidded for any player, whether playing the turn or just browsing any gamesave, to select left hand menu, then Game, then Resign. If hit accidentally, then immediately select the "No! Get back in there and fight" option. Selecting the "yes, time to slink away in shame" option triggers the game end scores and map expansion from the start (thereby revealing the start locations and limits of expansion of all seven factions).
• No communications without the correct commlink.
• Council notification - immediate broadcast to all players (Post in the thread and e-mail to all immediately by player who has called elections, citing candidates and votes. After each player's turn, post in the thread the running totals)
• If an aggressive probe action (anything except infiltration) is used on a faction you have a truce, treaty or pact with, you must select 'Declare Vendetta' in the dialog box that appears afterwards, and notify the victim of your transgression, unless you have received permission in advance. No notification is required in other cases.
• Demanding withdrawal to a human player through the menus rather than by negotiation is prohibited.
• Bribing (or accepting bribes) for votes through the diplomatic channel box by clicking on the human faction leader's picture is prohibited (must be conducted by diplo message or e-mail).
• Multiple reloading of the game to try for different effects is forbidden. If a reload is necessary because of a game crash etc., an explanation should be posted to the turn administration thread.
• This bug is not allowed: Normally, a base must have an Aerospace Complex to be able to build orbital facilities. However, if an Aerospace Complex is the item currently being built, then orbital facilities can be added to the build queue. If production is switched to something other than the Aerospace Complex, the orbital facilities remain in the build queue and will be built without the need for an Aerospace Complex.
• This bug is not allowed: On the turn a terraformer completes its terraforming task, its "flag" will be grayed out indicating that it has moved. Clicking on and activating the terraformer will allow a new terraforming command to be issued to the terraformer with the correct number of turns to completion displayed. Clicking on and activating the terraformer again, cancelling its new orders; at this point, the terraformer will have regained one movement point. Using the more advanced technique of this bug is also disallowed.
• It's not allowed to perform probe actions on a base that from one faction revolted to another human faction, unless the new owner decides and announces to keep the base. If the faction doesn't want the base that revolted to them, they have to gift it to an AI of their choice directly after receiving it if possible. If not possible, they have to starve the base and build a colony pod in order to destroy it, again as soon as possible (without hurrying). While disassembling the base, the new owner has the right though to sell off any facilities present in the base.
• It is not allowed to mind control with standard probe teams units or bases of any faction that runs a +3 or higher SE Probe rating.
• Due to the probe rollover bug, an enhanced probe team mind controlling a unit of a faction running +3 or higher Probe SE, would only have to pay half the credits it would have had to pay without the bug. To compensate for that bug, the probing faction needs to get rid of a sum of credits equal to the probe cost. This can be done by for example significantly overpaying for a hurry order, meaning the credits are wasted.
• It is not allowed to locate bases in unexplored tiles.
• You can't ask an AI to stop the war with a human, unless you have permission of that human.

[Net Warrior]

This seems to be a pretty complete list. I do have one question re: probes. IIRC when you mind control a human controlled base, the dialog box does not automatically pop up following your action. So, following probe events were there is no dialog box pop-up, does the player initiating the probe action still have to declare vendetta or elsewise notify the offended player?

[Mart]

I think that notification is still required.
If the dialog box does not appear, what is oppinion of other players?

I think I got starting positions relatively balanced - as close to perfect as possible without the same map regions. I tested the game 10 turns forward so far after the last adjustments. I want to go to the point, where I can see what AI did, and then the game will be ready to start.

Map is huge, so tech costs are still quite large, especially in the beginning.
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One more thing, I got quite good pod popping, hope you will get the same all the time.

[Mart]

I came also to an idea for the game title
Green and Grey

the previous one I will keep for a game with Aliens

[Net Warrior]

[Mart]

Game launched in this thread