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/vr/ - Retro Games


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File: 25 KB, 432x546, alphac.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
531683 No.531683 [Reply] [Original]

Let's have a thread about this, please.

>> No.531716
File: 33 KB, 404x443, 1364988436966.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
531716

>>531683
gog's deal when ?

>> No.532263

I wish I had a pet Mind Worm Boil.

>> No.536093
File: 66 KB, 639x480, drone nutrient box social.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
536093

My last play-through on this game as University revealed my biggest weaknesses: putting too much trust in the governor, not crushing unnecessary buildings for energy, and under-utilizing my design workshop. What steps can I take to undo my poor play-style, and help achieve transcendence victory?

>> No.536734

How do I play Svensgaard? Sea tiles are utter shit, resources are so hard to produce, and isles of the deep fuck my ships in the ass.

>> No.537297

>>536093

Unfortunately there is no way around micromanaging in Alpha Centauri. The governor is atrocious and it's not a good idea to let your cities sit idle, although you can use the Queue smartly.

>> No.537415

>>536093
Nope governors are terrible. Nothing you can do about it.

>> No.537419

So are we ever going to try and have a /vr/ multiplayer game? Is this even possible? I've never really tried it but I've always kinda wanted to.

>> No.537519

This is the only Civilization game I've played, although I have Civ 5 in my steam library (unplayed, got it free with the new X-Com).

Am I missing out?

>> No.537540
File: 1.17 MB, 1921x1080, PlanetIsCrying.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
537540

>Not fucking planet harder than a Taiwanese prostitute

That said, I have no idea how to keep a ecological damage at 0 after habitation domes, as soon as a base hits 20 things go downhill damn fast, even if all bases have a Temple of planet and are forests only.

>> No.537542

>>536093
I usually only let the governor manage drone riots and worker tiles, everything else has to be done by hand.

>> No.537572
File: 111 KB, 1058x705, 1366480400721.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
537572

>>537540
>eco damage 542

>> No.537578
File: 1.12 MB, 1898x1080, ThisIsUnfortunate.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
537578

>>537572

>> No.537585
File: 8 KB, 149x178, Sister_Miriam_Godwinson..jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
537585

Do you think Miriam had a husband? Children? I wonder what her panties smelled liked...

>> No.537603
File: 8 KB, 306x282, Fat_Larry.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
537603

>>537578
I asked this last time, but seriously, where the hell did all that water come from?

>> No.537615

>>537603
Gigantic polar glaciers.

>> No.537621

>>537603
Global warming melted all the water in the solar system.

>> No.537640
File: 25 KB, 650x179, morganites.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
537640

>>537572

> Sir, the planet is trying to kill us. Perhaps we should --
> Create more no-upkeep formers and set them on automatic fungal removal. Reinforce the garrisons. More productivity.
> Sir, I don't think you understand. The Planet is a sentient being and we have pissed it off. We need to concede.
> I don't think YOU understand. I am Morgan Fucking Nwabudike. And I'll be damned if I'm going to end the game with any of that mind melding gaia hippy bullshit. We are going to fuck Planet in the ass and it's going to like it. Now build. More. Formers.
> Sir, you'll kill us all.
> Then let's take Planet with us.

>> No.537641

>>536734
>playing pirates

official SMAX factions tier list:
okay-tier:
Drones
meh-tier:
Cybernetic Consciousness
shit tier:
Pirates
grrrl gamer xD tier:
Infolink whatever they were called
Alien Tier:
Caretakers, Usurpers
either redundant or lore bumfuck tier:
Cult

the SMAX factions arent good, pirates are completely nonsensical bullshit, don't play them

>> No.537643

>>537641
>official

Go away Bryan.

>> No.537647
File: 163 KB, 300x358, 800832869_899345.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
537647

>>537640
>Morgan Fucking Nwabudike

Is it wrong that I read that in Sam Jacksons voice?

>> No.538532

So I just played this game for the first time ever, being bored as shit.

Holy fucking titballs, this is the best 4X I ever played and all the atrocities and growing fungus and all that fluff text and quotes with each tech and building hot daaaaaamn.

Is Alien Crossfire any good? Also, any tips on how to use Formers properly without reling on auto mode, which tends to be shitty after a few farms?

>> No.538546
File: 928 KB, 1772x1832, 1366548815036.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
538546

>>538532
Oh, and I forgot my picture.

>> No.538573

>>537641
>playing smax at all

>> No.538625
File: 117 KB, 850x668, sample-0c6fd98374fb4797eddc9b8add88f6ad.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
538625

Do you ever do anything other than spam forests? I don't.

Even in the late game when fungus becomes awesome, I refuse to use it. Because by that point, I am still holding a vicious grudge.

>> No.538645

>>538625
>Forest expanded!
>Forest expanded!
>Forest expanded!

I don't know why, but I love watching tiles turn green, one by one

>> No.538734

>>538532

Not really any tips, you'll have to micromanage quite a lot. Just remember that roads and sensor towers are easily as important as farms/forests.

The expansion factions aren't as good, but you can benefit from the few additions (new techs, new projects) and still play with original factions only, so you should get it regardless.

>> No.538736
File: 291 KB, 1029x1462, Dr. Yang Wild Efficiency.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
538736

>>537297
>>537415
>>537542
Many thanks for the input. I now realize I must re-tool my method further to achieve transcendence victory.

>>537540
Not since pic related have I seen such mineral extraction. I hope your garrisoned empath units can take it.

>> No.538852

>>538573
I still have my old Alpha Centauri disk. It works great on my computer. No problems whatsoever, despite the time difference.
But when I try to add SMAX to it, suddenly it's crashing all the time and refusing to play. I don't know what the fuck.

>> No.539017

>>538736
>benevolent yang

Absolutely Disgusting

>> No.539336

Any place I can learn to play this game better?

>> No.539380

>>539336
here

there are many ways to play SMAC well

play on small maps with upper difficulty enemies and that'll force you to get nasty

>> No.539607

>>538625

I only use forests in the early game, but when I got supply crawlers and that tech that let you built Borehole & that improvements that give you tons of energy & food, I, of course, eradicated the forests and go on a supply crawlers & terraformng spree.

>> No.540102

>>538546

Perfect. All it needs is a snippet of >>537540 with "eco damage: 542" in progressively larger text.

>> No.540169

>>537540
Don't strip mine the entire planet, for one. Eco-damage is impossible to prevent just with technological development, and I think Alpha Centauri models that very well - you *cannot* have high level development without some level of eco-damage.

What you can do though is manage your eco-damage.

Don't blindly maximize your mineral output. It'll be overkill for most things you produce - if something costs 50 minerals and you're producing 200+, you'll make it in one turn but the extra 150 minerals you are making are thrown away.

Rather, you want to *optimize* your mineral output. Get a nice balance between a small eco-damage footprint and enough production to crank out stuff fairly quickly. Consider building cadet troops (that start trained without weapons or armour) and upgrading them with energy credits. For secret projects and large purchases like prototypes, rather than cranking up production, spread it out by having other bases build supply crawlers and sending them to the project (disbanding a supply crawler within a base makes it contribute 100% of it's mineral value towards the current construction project).

Don't build every single improvement in your cities. Improvements have upkeep costs and will severely eat into your energy income once you have many cities. Some improvements are no brainers for every city (recyc tanks, for example). Some improvements should be considered more selectively - things like Genejack factories, high-tech labs (anything more than a Network Node), tree farms, etc.

Evaluate whether you'll actually gain more benefit than the upkeep+construction cost of the building. For example, it's worthless building Genejacks in a mineral poor city, since the +50% minerals is going to be tiny. Likewise, adding high-tech labs to energy poor regions is a bad return on investment.

>> No.540181

>>540169

Also, specialize your cities! Cities on high elevation or at sea make great lab/economic cities (if they're close to the capital of course - far away cities gain massive energy penalties) due to easy access to solar/tidal. Cities with plentiful minerals should be industrial powerhouses. Don't spend a lot of resources trying to make your cities good at everything - you'll burn a lot of minerals and just have tons of eco-damage to show for it.

>> No.540248

>>538532

You should always have a former building roads. Note you can build roads to a specific location; the pathing sometimes gets a little wonky but the AI is generally good at figuring out the most direct line so this can be automated fairly easily.

As for terrain improvements, click on each individual square and analyze their current resource output. You can click through the subscreen and see things like rainfall or how much a square will produce with specific improvements. The Datalinks also has further information on potential outputs based on the terrain type (rocky, etc.)

A high rainfall square obviously makes a good farm candidate. High elevation squares are good for solar, rocky squares are good for mines.

If a square is pretty barren or has low resource output, or if you want some extra mineral income, plant forest. Don't build mines unless they're on a rocky patch or mineral specialty; a forest gives just as many minerals and more extra resources.

It goes without saying you should build the appropriate maximizer on a resource specialty most of the time (farms on nutrients, solar on energy, mines on minerals), but sometimes you may want a forest for diversity.

Remember to work your mines selectively to avoid eco-damage. Early on you probably want all the minerals you can get, but in the mid-game you probably can't work all your mines without some ecodamage, so only use them when you need them for big purchases.

>> No.540250

>>537640

That's the Morganite's spirit, right there.

>> No.540274

>>540248

Note Formers can "team up" to complete tasks faster. If you have multiple formers in a single square and get them to all build the same improvement, they'll divide the time needed accordingly (2 finish twice as fast, 3 finish three times, etc.).
This does make them very vulnerable to getting wiped out in one go by worms or enemy attacks, though, but it's crucial to getting things finished quickly.
Finally, note you can put the Former equipment on a rover chassis and make Rover formers - great road builders (since road builders are often going through rough terrain) although they are a little more expensive.

Once you've got a few basic improvements, consider building sensors in strategic locations. Sensors give +25% combat bonuses to nearby friendly units and also detect incoming enemies. Building one near your base is a good idea; so is building them near big fungus patches (to watch for worms) and near your borders (for obvious reasons). The AI tends to spam them - so if you're having trouble in a base assault, try destroying nearby sensors first.

>> No.540748

BUILD ROADS!

Have an efficient network of roads between cities. As soon as you get your first expansion, build a road connecting it to your main. This is so damn important. A few years spent building that road with save you lots of time later.

>> No.540861

Drop squads + fighter jets

Use the jets to clean out a base, then drop your squads in there. Play a game of leap frog.

>> No.541186

been a while since i played, but if i recall it correctly bonus resource squares are really important. and not just because you get +2 of the respective ressource: it actually lifts the restriction on max resource gain per square for that specific resource.

make sure to go for the weather control paradigm, build a base somewhere within 2 bonus mineral patches, build 2 boreholes and reap +16 minerals way WAY before anybody else can get that much on a single base. that base alone with it's ability to grab early secret projects can give you a tremendous advantage.

(plus weather control = condensers to help said base grow)

>> No.541639

>>541186
Doesn't weather paradigm not lift the restrictions?

I recall needing another level of E tech to be able to max out resource extraction, like Centauri Ecology or something.

>> No.541716
File: 16 KB, 543x499, 1329254685500.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
541716

>>540274
>Note Formers can "team up" to complete tasks faster. If you have multiple formers in a single square and get them to all build the same improvement, they'll divide the time needed accordingly (2 finish twice as fast, 3 finish three times, etc.).

No

Fucking

Way.

All that wasted time...

>> No.541863

Just reinstalled this off the CD on windows 7 and there's a black bar across the bottom and right sides of the screen at the main menu. Any ideas?

>> No.542110

>>538573
>not playing SMAX with original factions

I reckon people who keep complaining about it are people who too pussy to deal with worm artillery.

>> No.542402

>>541639

Weather Paradigm speeds up terraforming. Restrictions must be unlocked via appropriate techs as normal.

>> No.542454

>>541716

Likely you're not the sort who optimized population talents either. Note that in specialized cities, adding another Librarian/Doctor/etc. can do more than harvesting more resources.

Most solar collectors give you +1-3 energy that is then subdivided according to your Psych/Labs/Econ allocation. This energy's further reduced by inefficiency penalties for being away from your capital. A specialist, on the other hand, generally contributes at least +2 to the particular field (and later game specialists contribute more or to multiple fields), which means that once you're meeting basic nutrient needs it's better to convert extra population into specialists.

Unless the surrounding terrain is ultra-super rich and you can harvest it without raping the eco-damage meter (Monsoon Jungle with forests, for example), don't wait till you max out your work tiles - convert into specialists as soon as you feel you can do it.

An average coastal city that has 8 workers, each one harvesting 2 energy, will harvest 16 energy total. Assuming a 50/50 Labs/Econ split, you'll put 8 energy into labs and 8 into Econ. Not bad... but if you're far away from the capital, you might only actually get 12 energy after inefficiency, which means a net gain of 6 labs, 6 econ. Still not bad, but what if you want to maximize Labs output to get tech faster?

Given the same scenario, converting to 4 harvesters and 4 librarians might give you more. 8 energy from the harvesters, maybe reduced to 6 after inefficiency split between Labs/Econ. Librarians give an unmodified +2 to labs, so 8 straight to Labs. Overall your output is 11 Labs, 3 Econ. Note that overall, this is effectively 14 energy, still more output than a straight 12 energy split 50/50!

This becomes far more important as the numbers and penalties get bigger.

>> No.542851
File: 30 KB, 601x695, CloseOutOfEverything.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
542851

>>542454
> Talents not affected by inefficiency
Fuuuuuck

>> No.546403

so who's the best Alpha Centauri waifu?

Planetmind for me

>> No.546693
File: 50 KB, 298x256, 1343188058637.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
546693

>>546403
Zakharov is best husbando in history of vidya.

Just finished another playthrough as him, got anally fucked by earthdeidre two turns before reaching ascendance. I got pissed off and unleashed all my one planetbusters at her.

>mfw seeing that enormous explosion for the first time

>> No.547254

Why is this great thread about a great game so dead.

And why is there next to none fanart of faction leaders.

>> No.547621

>>547254
Because it's a turn-based war strategy game, and the type of people who are passionate about those are not the type of people who post on 4chan.

Or draw.

>>546403
I have a massive hardon for Morgan. He's just the best. Something about a guy who just buys his way into the space program, pays for most of the space program, then lands on the new planet and just starts buying everything while screaming, "CAPITALISM!" and, "I AM SO FUCKING RICH!" is awesome to me.
Also, I just like the bit about his faction enjoying their luxuries -- it makes me think that they probably have the cushiest lifestyle, so much as "cushy" can exist on a horrific sentient nightmare world filled with brain boring parasite worms. And given that, I support any ability to maintain "cushy" in that horrific nightmare world that's possible.

Zakh is my second favorite, though. I always try to ally with him / avoid brutally murdering him. He and Morgan are buddies, as far as I'm concerned.

>> No.547671

>>536734
There's nothing stopping you from setting up land bases, so if you see a production rich site grab it. Use energy to buy shit instead of building it whenever possible. Capture ships and upgrade them.
If you're getting fucked by isles you need more morale, anti-psi special abilities, lower ecodamage, or any combination of the three.

>> No.547685

>>547621
Research needs funding
Capitalism needs tech

It's a pretty rad pact.

>> No.547740
File: 61 KB, 843x503, weather paradigm.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
547740

>>541639
It lifts some restrictions, boreholes among them

>> No.548091

>>538625
Fuck yeah man! Trees are OP. Press [T] a few times and watch how lush your empire suddenly looks.

>> No.548357

Make sure you trigger the first fungal pop event ASAP.
It raises the clean mineral limit at all bases by 1, but more importantly, all tree farms, hybrid forests, centauri preserves and temples of planet built after this (and ONLY after this, any built before do not count) will also raise the clean mineral limit of every base by 1.
This can make a huge difference in the long term.

>> No.548481

>>547621
>I have a massive hardon for Morgan.
That's pretty gay bradda.

>> No.548586

>>547740

It allows you to BUILD Condensers and Boreholes. It does not lift production restrictions of 2 resources/type persquare, which makes them of limited and questionably value.

If you dig a borehole before discovering the appropriate tech, you'll only be able to harvest 2 minerals and 2 energy max. It does let you get a head start on building them though, and bonus resource squares are as always exempt from restrictions - a condenser on a nutrient square is excellent, as is a Borehole on a mineral bonus square.

>> No.548604

>>548586
Ohh. I thought they were talking about the improvement restrictions, not the cap on yields. Should have read it more closely, I guess.

>> No.548656

>>538625

Forests are a great early game resource due to their 2 mineral output and the fact that most resources are capped at a 2 gain anyway.

In the midgame however, when resource restrictions are lifted, you need to start critically assessing your priorities. Are you going for an econ victory, a transcend victory, or a military/diplomacy victory,

The first two requires lots of energy output (to speed Econ or Labs), the latter requires mineral output (to spam military units or colony pods).

Even in the latter case, energy production tends to rule the midgame - you have to deal with inefficiency and have psych output to handle drone riots (not an issue if you play lower difficulties). Usually by the midgame it's a good idea to set up solar farms - find a plateau and get your formers to turn it into a mountain range and seed it with collectors - at a good elevation you can easily produce 5+ energy without a bonus.

You can then supply crawl it back to a base (I don't recommend building a base on the plateau because it will be hard to feed due to lack of nutrients at high elevations). Even a modest 9 tile solar farm will net you +45 energy per turn to one base (or divided between multiple bases as you will).

If you crawl this back to your capital, there's no inefficiency loss (no matter how far away the solar farm is), and that energy gets dumped straight into your Labs/Econ output.

If you want to get really abusive with crawlers you could potentially crawl all the supplies you need and turn the entire base into Talents.

>> No.548669

>>548586

The one issue with a Borehole on a mineral tile is that it's a little inefficient.

You can get nearly the same result with a mine+road, and the main benefit of the borehole is the high mineral *and* high energy output. If you're getting only minerals you're really just jacking up your eco-damage for no good reason.

Condensers on nutrient tiles are amazing though and definitely another good reason to rush Weather Paradigm (on top of the +Former speed of course).

>> No.548717
File: 7 KB, 130x175, Destroy you utterly.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
548717

>>538546
This is amazing, it needs the eco damage thing like another anon suggested, and also, someone calling you to harass you into giving them tech.

>> No.548790

>>548669
>If you're getting only minerals you're really just jacking up your eco-damage for no good reason.
Early eco-damage can be a good thing, though >>548357

>> No.549202

Believers are the best faction for technology on Transcend.

>> No.549547
File: 637 KB, 1772x2210, SMAC.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
549547

>>548717
>>540102
There we go. I took some liverties with adding stuff to fill the plank space but I hope it's okay.

>> No.549685

>>549547
>here are 0 credits, spend them wisely
haah waaw

>> No.549759

>>549547

>You overestimate my wealth. 1 seems like a better number

Way too fucking meta for me.

>> No.549772

There's some hilarious about fistfucking Planet so hard that it turns into Waterworld.

>> No.549807

>>549547
>liverties

Oh, fuck me. Now I need a picture of Lal and Deidre holding a gigantic liver or something.

>>549772
Care to find it and deliver, anon?

>> No.549814
File: 1.04 MB, 1772x2210, 1367015944629 copy.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
549814

>>549547

Fixed.

>> No.549829

Out of curiosity, I get 20 worm pops at 150 eco damage
What kind of pops are you getting at more than 500 eco damage?

>> No.549842

Do colony pods work if they are put on jets or helicopters or something?
I figure it's a good way to get them around quicker, but I don't wanna waste the minerals if it won't work.

>> No.549870

>>549842
Colony pods do work on air vehicles but they build land colonies only, IIRC.

>> No.549879

>>549829
His territory probably looks like Planet spilled its spaghetti every.

>> No.549935

>>549879
>I try to talk to this cute alien who treats me nicely
>Instead of just calling her by her name, I quickly spout 'earthdeidere'
>She panics
>Mindworms fall out of my fungus
>I try to fix it
>Earthquake out of stress

>> No.549945

>>549807
>Now I need a picture of Lal and Deidre holding a gigantic liver or something.

Playing tug of war with it like a pair of dogs.

>> No.549984

>>549945
I so wish for a drawfag in this thread now.

>> No.550029

How are you even supposed to use supply crawlers?

>> No.550038

>>550029
No idea I just Tree and Hybrid Forest all the things

>> No.550065

>>550029
Move them to a tile, hit O (I think) and choose a resource. They'll send the yield back to their home base every turn.

You can also send them to a base building a secret project to speed it up, but this consumes the crawler.

>> No.550130

>>550065
OH! OH SHIT. That's actually a pretty cool idea

>> No.550183

>>550065
you can also change a units home base by pressing Ctrl+h

Note: Do not do this with "Independent" units like the free scout, recon rover pod, or transport foil pod units. Those units are completely free of cost as if they had Clean Reactors on them.

>> No.550292

>>537540
What are those funnel things?

>> No.550986

>>549935
>get nervous
>fungal stalk erupts out of ground
>try to hide it
>earthmorgan laughs at me
>interface with datalinks and download earthporn

>> No.550997

What's the best research path to start on initially as University?

>> No.551039

>>550292
The things that look like clusters of giant tube worms?
Worm psi artillery

>> No.551967

>>550130

Note when used in sufficient numbers crawlers get very, very gamebreaking.

You can set up solar farms as described in >>548656 and gain near-limitless energy supplies, crawl all your nutrients and turn an entire base's population into Talents like Librarians or better, stockpile 30 in a base and insta-build a secret project.

You can also add Crawlers to a foil/cruiser chassis and create kelp/tidal farms out in the middle of the ocean, essentially feeding entire cities with kelp mash.

This is one of the other strengths of the previously mentioned Infinite City sprawl; with dozens of cities in close proximity you can chug out crawlers like no tomorrow and instabuild anything.

The AI never uses crawlers; coupled with unoptimized Former use, makes it really easy once you understand the game.

>> No.552006

>>550997

*Always* get Centauri Ecology first (unless you happen to find it in a pod, or find the Gaians and trade for it).

After that, you're probably best positioned to rush for Secrets of the Human Brain and get the free extra tech advance.

If that's taken, or if you'd rather not race for the bonus, then you want Planetary Networks; it unlocks the Virtual World project which solves most of your faction disadvantages (all Network Nodes count as a hologram theatre and reduce Drone count by 2. Since you get a free Node at every base and suffer from higher drone counts, this takes away your disadvantage immediately).

Plus, it will give you a head-start building Probe Teams - not so much for offensive uses, but to defend your tech from getting stolen by enemy Probe Teams, and will also allow you to start converting excess population into Librarians.

Then Industrial Automation for the ever necessary Supply Crawlers and after that it's up to you.

You probably want to aim for Pre-Sentient Algorithms ASAP, since it will allow you to build Hunter-Seeker before anyone else and prevent your tech lead from being stolen, but you can manage with enough Probe Teams and careful sensor placement along your borders.

>> No.553051

>>552006

Only in multiplayer, you really can't make by without hunter-seeker. Your "borders" become a whole new term.

>> No.553085
File: 165 KB, 285x284, 1361259096812.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
553085

>>537578
>>537540
would somebody kindly tell me how to make SMAC/AX look this good? I mean, getting it to run at 1080p? What's the program for that?

Also, I've heard - aside from shit factions - that AX actually weakens the gameplay/adds nothing of value to AC, is that true?

picture related, that's deidre irl

>> No.553095

>>553085
sh-she sure is c-cute...

>> No.553113
File: 64 KB, 300x318, a8ceaa9b20a1a27f3074.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
553113

>>553095
>>553095
so you can't help me

you are more useless than the spartans and their retarded 2nd amendment society

>> No.553125

>>553113
I'd g-give her 85 tracks per day...

sorry

>> No.553131
File: 67 KB, 300x312, 1fbed0d4c8adfd9a613e.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
553131

>>553125
i'd listen to deidre lecture me on the importance of bioharmony all day long

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DT56Imed9w

>> No.553148 [DELETED] 
File: 828 KB, 200x189, 1361644874675.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
553148

>>553131
>tracks scrobbled

>> No.553153 [DELETED] 
File: 59 KB, 300x299, 7a7817d7058f6ac62870.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
553153

>>553148
I got these from some meme-spouting /mu/ channel on last.fm I stumbled upon unintentionally, had a good laugh.

Sorry if this feels off-topic, but I really want to get an answer to my original query here. >>553085


This is the last pic I have of her

>> No.553165 [DELETED] 
File: 88 KB, 608x450, portlandia.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
553165

>>553153
>yfw she's a lesbian

>> No.553179

>>553085
Go to the folder you installed SMAC in
Open Alpha Centauri.ini
Under the [Alpha Centauri] tag, add the line
DirectDraw=0
(it doesn't exist, you need to add it)
Save it and run, and it should be running at your desktop resolution.
There will be minor graphical issues but nothing gamebreaking.

SMACX adds some okay factions (nothing as good as the original 7 but it can be interesting to mix it up), some techs that are neat but not vitally important, and mind worm artillery, which may piss you off if you're used to just fortifying in your bases and letting worms suicide on you. Personally I like it, and since it usually comes with SMAC anyways, there's no point in not getting it; you can always run the original game .exe if you really don't want to use the new techs/mechanics.

>> No.553190 [DELETED] 

>>553165
yfw you realize lesbians still have tits and pussies

>> No.553194 [DELETED] 
File: 169 KB, 285x359, give her the deidre.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
553194

>>553179
thanks boss

;)

>>553165
>>553190
;)))

>> No.553202 [DELETED] 

>>553165

Oh, every single hipster broad is a fucking lesbian if it makes her more of a QT in the eyes of her idiotic audience.

>> No.553205 [DELETED] 

>>553202

>hipster

can we put this word to rest

>> No.553224 [DELETED] 

>>553165
I thought it was Annie but wasn't sure. She's so cute it hurts me sometimes.

>>553205
I would pay moot a large amount of money to slap a word-filter on it, or at least make it a bannable offense.

>> No.553226 [DELETED] 

>>553205

No, I'm sorry, we can't. Just because hipsters themselves (in a spectacular display of irony) decided that the word is no longer trendy enough to use, that doesn't mean the word lost any meaning.

>> No.553231 [DELETED] 

>>553226

The word hipsters hasn't lost meaning because of hipsters. It's lost meaning because people like you throw it around at every opportunity (even those times when it's not appropriate), robbing the word of any meaningful connotation.

Unless, of course, you were not-so-subtly calling yourself a hipster there.

>> No.553245 [DELETED] 

>>553231

Nah. Just like always, "hipster" is a word used for people who adorn themselves with trappings of "intellectualism" and "high culture" while not actually displaying any qualities that separate them from any normal person they're so desperate to differentiate themselves from. St. Vincent and her audience are blatant hipsters in the eyes of anyone who doesn't fall for retro gimmicks and knows that "QTs" are just as whores as anyone else.

>> No.553249

>>550997
Research weapons immediately and kill, kill, kill, kill

>> No.553251
File: 61 KB, 427x700, redmars.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
553251

Anyone else read this?
Thinking on this I think it played a major influence on SMAC.

>> No.553252 [DELETED] 

>>553245

No, hipsters is a word that describes "Everyone I decide I don't like"

A buzzword of the highest caliber.

>> No.553271

>>553251
Yeah, I really liked it.

>> No.553274 [DELETED] 

>>553205
>>553224
>being mad when hipsters get called hipsters
buttmad hipster detected

>> No.553287 [DELETED] 

>>553252
a Hipster is a pseudo-intellectual who proves his superiority to everyone else by only liking bands/movies/shows/books/whatever which are pretty obscure (you've probably never heard of em); spending about 7 hours a day at starbucks, writing shitty fanfictions, I mean, high class novels and poems on his $2000 facebook machine; liking "retro" things; "ironically" "liking" things he doesn't like because they're not snobbish enough and studying liberal arts

also, ugly shirts and silly beards

I visit starbucks once or twice a week when waiting for the train, and yes, such people do actually exist.

polite sage for offtopic

>> No.553295 [DELETED] 

>>553202
>>553205
>>553224
>>553226
>>553231
>>553245
>>553252
>>553274
knock it off

>> No.553301 [DELETED] 

>>553287

So basically, "People I just decided to dislike"

>I go to starbucks

Sure you aren't the hipster here, buddy?

>>553251

Thumbs up.

>> No.553490

but really, who on earth would play as the Infogrrrrrrrrrrrrill? Literally the boringest faction.

>> No.553498

>>553490
>Literally the boringest faction

What is every SMAX faction, ever?

They're just shallow and meaningless. The leaders have no interesting quirks and they're too...Earth-like, aside from the aliens. I really can't see a faction centered around LET'S BE CYBORGS or FREE INFORMATION or WE DRONES, WE STRONK forming freshly after Planetfall. It just doesn't add up.

>> No.553514 [DELETED] 

>>553295
Has anyone noticed that the archive makes janitor post deletion pointless since you can automatically respond to the deleted material continue shitposting?

>> No.553579
File: 169 KB, 285x359, give her the deidre.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
553579

>>553498
>>553490
this

personally I feel even the SMAC factions with Sparta traded for the Free Drones would be the ideal system

>> No.553587
File: 57 KB, 144x227, give her the probe team.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
553587

>>553579
>even
my head was thinking of something else

I was going to say, even the SMAC factions' particular sort of fidelity to their chosen core principle is arguably quite problematic, Sparta moreso than the other vanilla leaders, which have broad enough worldviews to be tenable

anyway, off for another game, gonna roll YANG muthafuckas

>> No.553605

>>553498
No, Drones are pretty interesting and the Manfolds too actually. Aki is cute and Svensgaard is an interesting concept.

>> No.553696

>>553605

Some pretty compelling arguments here, so I'll address them all individually.

>Drones are pretty interesting
I think this is kind of subjective. Some people find generic Bolshevik-esque caricatures interesting, others think they're generic Boslhevik-esque caricatures.

>Svensgaard is an interesting concept.
I think this is kind of subjective. Some people find generic pirate caricatures interesting, others think they're generic pirate caricatures.

>Aki is cute
Well alright, I'll give you that. After all, the most important thing about an Alpha Centauri faction leader as a philosophical archetype is that she should be cute.

>Manifolds
They are interesting but that's not enough to mask everything else wrong with the expansion.

We talked about this several dozen times already. The new factions would be a lot more interesting as offshoots of already existing factions that happened sometime in the future after planetfall. They're not, so they're not only boring and pretty one-dimensional, but also retconning the story for no reason.

>> No.553750

>>553696
Oh good, Berry is here to shove his dumb thoughts down our throats again.

>> No.553778

So, should I play SMAC or SMACX with the original factions?

>> No.553798

>>553778
Try them both. SMACX adds some interesting stuff but it also adds worm artillery and fungal towers, which may or may not piss you off.

>> No.553831

In My Head:

Pirates - Less a government as they are a criminal faction. Svensgaard is ultimately at the head of a nation-sized criminal organization. The political system resembles more of a mafia than a government. At the bottom level are Crews, above them are Flotillas, above them are Fleets, and finally above them are Armadas. Cities are almost entirely dominated by the various companies and corporations that reside in them. At the head of the entire thing is Svensgaard who's become something akin to the King of the Pirates. His is the largest Armada, but instead of bullying the others around, he uses his forces, resources, and skills to keep the cohesion of the Nautilus Pirates a viable political machine. Their laws are typically enforced by vigilante justice and mob rule and all Crews are subject to a universal Code of Conduct.

Data Angels - Angel cities are semi-anarchic city-states who rule via computer hacking and domination. Each of their cities resemble a Self-Aware Colony only with a group of hackers and computer experts at their head instead of sophisticated AI. Through blackmail, bribery, entrapment, and just plain old occasional force, they keep the cities running. These shadow governments are called Councils who the local authorities have to report to. Their goal is the ultimate individual freedom and security of the people without having them be ruled by mega-corporations, tyrannical madmen, religious zealots, or faceless bureaucracies.

>> No.553845

>>553798

What does it add that is worthwile?

>> No.553853

>>553831

Cult of Planet - They combine the xeno-worship of the Gaians with the worst aspects of the Believers. The Cult doesn't want to live in harmony with Planet, they want to be it's willing slaves. Mind-Worms are like the Shai'Hulud and are worshiped like living gods. Humanity is seen as a failed experiment of another world which through the Cult is achieving an ideological Transcendence through submitting itself to Planet, a literal god-world. This is different from the Gaians who at least still retain a portion of their humanity, whereas the Cult has chosen to forgo humanity to serve a sentient being who has become something more.

>> No.553894

>>553845
Some projects and facilities, techs, unit modules
It nerfs the H-S Algo., so it's no longer total immunity to probe teams forever (although it's still incredibly good)

>> No.554054

>>537419
I would but I need to get some practice, I'm pretty shit. It's easy enough to get working so I've heard.

>> No.554086 [DELETED] 

>>553696
You sound anally ravaged.

>> No.554137

>>554086

I bear the burden of intellectual and overall character superiority.

>> No.554138

I haven't played this game a lot but I recently played as Deirdre and could suddenly construct (not just capture) mindworms. Is this something all factions are capable of? What are the prerequisites?

>> No.554184

>>554138
You only need to research Centauri Empathy to be able to build Mind worms. There are no other prerequisites, although having Biology labs, Centauri preserves and some other buildings will give your produced Mind worms a higher initial life cycle rating. If you can get all of the related secret projects and buildings, you'll eventually be able to build Demon boil Mind worms straight out of your bases.

You can build any of the other lifeforms as well, once you've researched more Centauri techs; for example, Centauri Meditation gives you Isles of the Deep.

>> No.554185

>>554138
Anyone who researches Centauri Empathy can build worms. You can also build the more advanced ones with later techs.

>> No.554240 [DELETED] 

>>554137
oh, so you're a hipster?
filtered

>> No.554252

>>554184

Oh, sweet, and the Centauri-techs are of which category?

So Spartan mind worms are a thing to be scared of, I reckon?

>> No.554275

>>554252

Nevermind, I looked it up, it's explore.

>> No.554291 [DELETED] 

>>554240
>>>/v/

>> No.554295

>>554252
I think they're Explore, but I almost never play with blind research on so I'm not entirely sure.

Spartans get a morale bonus to their regular troops, native lifeforms are completely unaffected by that. Mind worms do however have a life cycle that gives almost identical combat bonuses. The more your mind worms win battles, the further they advance in their life cycle (gain experience), which makes them appear as larger boils and makes them stronger in combat.

Psi combat is affected by your Planet rating - each positive point in Planet gives your units a +10% bonus when attacking something psionically. So Deirdre's and Cha Dawn's mind worms can be pretty fearsome.

>> No.554391

>>554252

Pay attention to pre-req. techs too. Some of the Centauri techs require Build or other techs from elsewhere in the tree.

>> No.556278

I was young when I first got this game. It took me years to realize you could change government policies.

>> No.556347

>>554137
>I bear the burden of being bad at Alpha Centauri.
ftfy

>> No.556431

>>556347

Well, that's uncalled for.

>> No.556452 [DELETED] 

>>556431
Take note dear friends, tripfags like these will cause the downfall of /vr/

>> No.556484 [DELETED] 

>>556452

rawr :3

>> No.556863
File: 1.18 MB, 300x188, MadTvCoachGumChewHeadShake.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
556863

> Start using crawlers for the first time
> Decide i'll use them to speed construction of secret projects

> I now own all the secret projects.

Damn this shit is OP.

>> No.556901

>>556863
Yeah, they'd be strong enough if they could do one thing or the other, but the fact that they can gather resources AND be sacrificed for project minerals means there's very little reason to not shit them out en masse.

>> No.556903 [DELETED] 

>>556484
1v1 me fagget

>> No.560023

>>556863

Yes. Part of this is why fans clamour for a new game. The game's incredibly forward thinking and really captures the history of mankind and the human condition in a way Civilization never really does... but the gameplay is very easily breakable.

Some sort of fix to Infinite City Sprawl strategies and Supply Crawlers would go a long way, as well as making the AI make actual informed choices (rather than go with Farm/Mine/Road everywhere, instead of, well, forests, which gives just as much).

>> No.560503

>>560023

Agreed. It seems that in their yearning to add a lot of features, they've forgot to do a good job of balancing them. It's not just crawlers. Unit like chopper has no business being in this game, especially since it's so stupidly cheap.

>> No.560585

>>560503
getting that unity chopper pretty much broke the game for me, I don't even need roads to protect my formers anymore.

>> No.561178

>>560585
You kiddings?

>> No.561241

>civ 1 & 2 have severe problems with sprawl
>don't fix it
>allow building on water, too
I don't know what they were thinking. I also don't know why it's so highly praised. The game is almost unplayable late-game due to micro-overload.

>> No.561275

>>561241
Play on a smaller map, use hotkeys and queues and allow base governor to handle drone riots. The micromanagement becomes totally manageable.

>> No.562014

>>553579
>>553587
probemind

>> No.562081

>>562014
One of those posts is responding to the other.

>> No.562869

>>556863
>>556901
>>560023
>>560503

editing out/make obsolete the cheap tactics is pretty easy tho

>> No.562912

>>560023
So, what should be taken out to make a balanced AC2?

>> No.565367

>>562081
that's impossible

>> No.565496

>>562912
that's impossible

>> No.566030

>>561275
I tried playing a standard map once.
Turn 350-351 took 10 minutes of paranoid re-checking of everything and I still fucked up and forgot to do something.

> That one time you played huge map for the first time
> And allowed the option of research to be stolen without probe teams

> Space program capable enemy forces shitting out millions of satellites and troops every turn.
Never. Again.

>> No.566098

>>566030
pretty much reason while when i have mood for civ, i only play civ2 on small/normal map.

civ4/5 are pretty much unplayable in lategame thanks to how long it takes AI to do anything, while in civ2 it takes few seconds tops with 7 opponents.

>> No.566174

>>566098
That's something I love about Civ2. It can move very quickly end game, while that's almost never the case with the newer ones.

>> No.566639

>>565496
>>565367
that's impossible

>> No.570070

>>566098
>>566174
Civ 2 is still my favorite game in the series even including AC, and aside from nostalgia it's probably because it struck the perfect balance between "immersion" as a leader and having fun with a video game.

>> No.570081

>>570070
SPEAKING OF, has anyone gotten Civ 2 to work reliably for Windows 7? I have not found a fix that works yet.

>> No.570095

>>570070

So, how is it better than Civ 3?

>> No.570109

>>570095
Though I certainly miss the necessity of occasionally declaring war for resources (war for oil!), on the whole I think Civ3 has a few rough hewn concepts.

In hindsight though, it's more well-rounded than 4 and 5.

Lately I've had a serious urge to play Civilization I. Second video game I ever played, first was Battle Chess. I ought to DOSbox it.

>> No.570156

>>570109

What are the rough hewn concepts? The overhauled corruption and waste? I don't mind the obnoxious corruption, in fact I think it kinda adds to the game. Draws it out in a positive way. War just feels more lethal and immersive in Civ 3 since:

1) Your core cities are more important than ever because corruption makes border dumps almost entirely useless.
2) As you said, resources. This is sorely missing from Civ 2 and Alpha Centauri. It's hardly a fair and balanced mechanic in the conventional, gamey sense of the word, but fairness is not exactly what I'm looking for when I turn to Civilization. So you don't have a vital resource. Well, adapt. Find a way to bluff if you're in multiplayer. Turn your rivals against each other. There's many ways to deal with disadvantages. If worse comes to worst (or however that idiom goes), you're fucked and you've had immersive nerd fun.

>> No.570176

>>570156
I don't really like the way that Civ3 limits the size of my empire, and I feel like like Civ2 is more straight forward to play is all.

Civ2 with resources and a more robust AI would be my ideal game, I think.

>> No.570265

>>570156
By the way, I just stumbled upon C-evo. It's interesting, seems better than Freeciv.

>> No.570380
File: 123 KB, 400x400, 1350501534819.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
570380

>>570081
this please

i'm still on vista because i'm too lazy to pirate 7, and really i notice fuck all of a difference when using pc's with that os

i have never played civ2 before and really want something more hardcore than civ4 and smac/ax

civ5 is good brainless fun and i can't wait for brave new world, even though i dislike the "ideology" system intensely

>> No.570636

>>570156

I found resources to be a real fun killer. I don't have Iron or horses, great. There is absoutely no way I can win a war with the units I can presently build, and the local neighbour has a mad-on for me because he's far larger than I am.

>> No.570653

>>570636

Solution: play multiplayer. You'll be surprised when you find out that being smaller and weaker can even be an advantage in certain circumstances.

>> No.570659

>>570653

Why would it be? If they have no iron/horses, and you have a decent military advantage, then you can probably gobble up a smaller player no problem.

>> No.570715

>>570659

Hahaha, no. As soon as the stronger opponent makes an attempt at gobbling you up, his powerful rival will use the opportunity to descend on him. Worse yet, if somebody wants to make a move on you, they have to do it quick, before technology reveals you've been sitting on gunpowder or some shit. What ends up usually happening is you either being completely ignored in favor of bigger issues or bullied into a joint strike on a bigger enemy.

>> No.573546

>>570380
>civ5 is good brainless fun
More like suffering.

>> No.575902

Ohh god this game, I'd love to play it again, but like all my 30ish attempts, I just quit cause I'm a casual scum

>> No.578324

>crawler spam
>infinite city sprawl

Broken game.

>> No.578438

>>578324
I suggest boosting rival factions' bonuses by editing ini files.

>> No.581054

>>578438
That only ups the difficulty. What do you suggest for making ICS fun to play?

>> No.581060

>>581054
Don't do it?
The only time ICS is necessary is against a human player that is also ICSing.

>> No.582225

What's infinite city sprawl?

>> No.582259

>>582225
You build bases as close to each other as possible, regardless of terrain, and never stop building more bases. It's tedious and stupid, but it can be very effective in some civ games where city spam isn't punished.

>> No.582702

>>582259
But what about food and resources? They can't use the same square.

>> No.582748

>>582702
Each city will usually have a couple of squares for its own use. With judicious use of improvements, crawlers, and the +1/+1/+1 from rec. tanks you can fit a surprising amount of people in a base.

Later on once you get satellites it becomes even easier and more rewarding to spam cities everywhere.

>> No.584278

>>582225

You don't build up those bases, and cluster them in ultra dense groups. Something like within 1 or two squares of each other - something like five cities in a 3x3 patch for example. Since the nutrient intake is low they'll never be more than Pop 1 or Pop 2 (and you actually don't want them to get bigger).

The key idea behind ICS is that it's ultra efficient. A base has a free worked tile - the one it's built on, and gains whatever resources are there with +1/+1/+1 bonus. Another +1/+1/+1 comes from recyc tanks.

You don't build up these bases. Any extra population gets turned into Talents rather than workers.

Rather, you use them to crank out endless hordes of supply crawlers to speed construction at a few key bases, or instantly build 50 scout infantry in a turn across all your bases, or colony pods, etc.

Also, many factions get free base facilities, which increases the efficiency of this strategy even more. If you're playing Zakharov, for example, every city you found means another +2 Labs! It's overall cheaper to build a dozen colony pods and ICS than a nuclear lab (which isn't available until your tech advances anyway!).

You don't start this strategy immediately of course - your first few cities will probably build up in the reasonable manner, and then you'll swap off into. It seems extremely counterintuitive but it's actually quite a strong strategy. Your borders are impossible to push and your troops come out in huge swarms.

>> No.584290

>>584278

Given the same 3x3 area, those 5 pop 1 cities would each have one Talent each (since the base tile is automatically worked) - maybe a Librarian, for +2 Labs each. If you're University of Planet, free Network node at each base - another +2 labs. Just those 5 cities will give you +20 labs - more than most improvements and 5 colony pods are dirt cheap to make, much cheaper than any lab improvement.

You can build crawlers for each of those cities to improve your resource income. If you want to build something big, you can punch out 5 supply crawlers, re-assign them all to one base, and have them crawl all their minerals to that one base. Or if it's a secret project, you can just keep building crawlers and donating them towards the project.

If you have 50 cities, that's a whopping +200 to your labs, and that isn't even adding in any energy gains. It's also potentially 50 cheap units/crawlers in a very short amount of time. If you combine this with supply crawler and solar farm strategies you will be rolling in huge amounts of energy and resources.


The other big advantage is that maintaining a huge army is easier, since by default you get to support two units free with every city. That means your army could be 100-units strong before suffering mineral deductions. An empire with 10 mega-cities can only support 20 units max before penalties.