Official SMAC Thread

[Pike]

ITT we discuss Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, why it's the greatest game ever made, why there's no sequel/remake, WHY are you doing renewing that copyright EA, lament the possibilities of a Facebook SMAC, post screenshots, swap stories, talk about Planet Busters, laugh at Miriam, and discuss why last night I had a dream that I got a job at a store called Alpha Centauri where Zakharov was the store manager.

Okay?

Okay.

[Madame Adequate]

Wait back up here, we need to know about this dream.

Also Morgan4lief. What's that? University has tech? Yang has military units? Yeah well I can just BUY EVERYTHING, including THE ENTIRE PLANET, so...

[Pike]

Also Morgan4lief. What's that? University has tech? Yang has military units? Yeah well I can just BUY EVERYTHING, including THE ENTIRE PLANET, so...

I sort of want to try Morgan but on the other hand

>2100
>Not starting with Network Nodes

I seriously hope you guys don't do this

[DK]

Really is one of the best games ever, and the first ever game of it's genre that I managed to get into. Up until playing it I'd never cared for them, but I think I got the game given to me in a bundle when I got a new PC like however many god damn years ago. I figured I may as well give it a try and see what the deal was, and even my 14 year old self ended up getting totally blagged and played it for like 8 hours straight. I can still remember being a little nubby nub and choosing Santiago and her spartans just because they were the military team which in my mind made them the best team. I think I persisted with them for a while, too. And then there was the fateful day I decided to be Zakharov for a laugh, and saw research just fly by...never looked back. Zak <3 Is there anything more amusing than Lal/Miriam calling you up all "Heh, better bow down punk, we just got all our infantry units upgraded to the 1-2-1 laser infantry " while you look on in bemusement as you send a squadron of Silksteel Chaos Needlejets on a bombing run into their territories about half an hour into the game? I don't think so!

I love Alien Crossfire as well. Svensgaard is probably my favourite guy to play as, the sheer power of having a large planet and controlling the oceans and the ease with which you can build about 60 massively populated and incredibly well resourced bases all at full population and just oh man, the pirates are a total wrecking machine. Would love to be able to play an online multiplayer game where I take Svensgaard and whoever i'm playing with is like Zak or whatever and we team up, just to see how royally smurfed the remaining factions would be by Zaks motherland continent devoted entirely to research, with pirate bases surrounding the entire continent. get paid in research for the protection services of the pirates, everybody becomes unstoppable, oh christ, nursing a semi just imagining the power

yeah it's fair to say I love SMAC.

[Slothy]

I don't think I've ever played as anything other than the Spartans or the Hive. Something about running a fictional police state appeals to me.

And drone riots? What drone riots? *nerve staple*

[Pike]

I'm always Zak when I play vanilla. When I play Alien Crossfire I usually give the Consciousness a shot but I have real problems finishing a game with them. I don't know why. I love their lore, love everything about them but the playstyle they require doesn't quite mesh with me the way Zak's does.

I'll tell you what though, there is NOTHING FUNNIER than playing as Aki and then teaming up with Zak. WHY CAN'T I HOLD ALL THIS TECH

[Tainted Angel]

If anybody has a copy on their HDD, I'm really like a copy.

Really feel bad about not somehow backing this up when I had it on my now broken PC. (Comp really failed due to incompetance on my part. Win7 and it got a smurfing nasty vir[U][/U

[Pike]

Well, it's $6 on GoG.com. Which, by the way, means EVERYONE SHOULD OWN IT, HINT HINT, HUMANITY AS A WHOLE

Edit: P.S. according to SMAC's original designer, Brian Reynolds, if he ever gets the rights and makes a sequel it's going to be like Mass Effect. I'm not joking.

[Slothy]

Edit: P.S. according to SMAC's original designer, Brian Reynolds, if he ever gets the rights and makes a sequel it's going to be like Mass Effect. I'm not joking.

Huh? That might be the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

[Pike]

Edit: P.S. according to SMAC's original designer, Brian Reynolds, if he ever gets the rights and makes a sequel it's going to be like Mass Effect. I'm not joking.

Huh? That might be the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

Behold the Alpha Centauri podcast, wherein Brian crushes our dreams. It's actually pretty interesting and worth a listen for fans (although it's about an hour and a half long, as a warning), but yeah, the sequel discussion is rather distressing.

Soren (lead designer of Civ IV) confirmed for bro, however. He talks about how he might have made a SMAC 2 but didn't think he was up to the task; it's a pity because I bet he would have done a pretty great job.

[Loony BoB]

Man, it's been forever since I played this game but there are so many features in it which I just can not understand why they aren't Civ games. I mean... besides having the entire game as part of a Civ game, that is. It is only natural that once you build a spaceship in Civ that you should arrive at Alpha Centauri and continue your game. *nod*

I played as whatever it was that could 'adopt' the aliens. Was it Gaia's Stepdaughters or University of the Planet? One or the other. Whichever I was, it was awesome. Once you get the technology to allow you to get all the aliens to join your civ, you can cause serious damage to every other nation out there without much difficulty. So basically, survive until that point and then rule the world without contest.

[Pike]

I'm pretty sure any faction who is on good terms with Planet can get the Mindworms, but I could be wrong seeing as I only play University. I usually end up becoming bro with Planet without trying. Running Democracy/Green/Power/Cybernetic Society as my social engineering civics usually nets the best and most balanced results for me so I do that, and I think it's that "Green" bonus that gets me the Mindworms without trying.

Also I build a lot of the Centauri Nature Preserves, because... I dunno, I just do.

[Loony BoB]

Oh. What was it that set Gaia's Stepdaughters apart then? I always thought they were the only one who could capture/control mindworms etc. My entire army consisted of them. xD

[Pike]

They have a better chance of capturing mindworms than anyone else (I think) and they also get bonuses from fungus tiles.

They also ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS get Secrets of the Human Brain first So much so that one time when I actually got it first as University I about fell out of my chair.

[Madame Adequate]

Your ability to 'tame' mindworms hinges on your Environment score in your social engineering gubbins; the higher it is, the better your chances. Gaians naturally have a good score and are predisposed towards Green and suchlike, policies that enhance it further, so they tend to end up with the best chances of capturing them. (Not as much as the Cult of Planet though, who are even more ridiculously bro with mindworms).