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/vr/ - Retro Games

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5609101 No.5609101 [Reply] [Original]

How do I get not shit at Alpha Centauri?

>> No.5609107

just get good

>> No.5609140

>>5609101
By playing the game, rather than bitching AI rolf-stomped you. Can't keep up with AI on the lowest difficulty settings? You might be genuinely retarded. Can keep up? Then learn from those and progressively set higher difficulty

>> No.5609634

>>5609101

I actually find the game too easy. Some tips

Play the university faction
-getting virtual world is #1 priority as they get more drones, otherwise virtual world and networks nodes are #1 priority as another faction

All civ games are about expanding as much as you can for as long as you can, then solidifying your gains. Pumping out tons of colonists is good early game. This strat is esp important bc free market disallows far expansion, but massively increases energy

Tech advantages are huge in this game, make sure to be ahead.

>> No.5609643

>>5609101
You must dissent

>> No.5609648

>>5609101
I always found it to be quite easy. What faction are you playing as?

>> No.5610221

Fuck I need to rewatch Cromartie

>> No.5610585

Build cities everywhere

>> No.5610903

>>5610221
It's shit don't bother

>> No.5612840

>>5610221
CROMARTIE IS MY ALLLTA MATER SOMETHING BOKA BOOO

>> No.5612852

>>5610903
correction; the manga is shit, the anime is good (not great)

>> No.5614641

>>5609634
This
And probe teams are great at blocking the AI

>> No.5614985

>>5609101
be yourself

>> No.5615020

>>5609101
Cheat.
No, seriously. The easiest way to learn how to play Civ 2 and SMAC is to turn on the cheat mode, give yourself handful of worker units/formers along with 3 other settlements/bases than the first one, 5k money/energy and some 5-10 techs and then just play the game. Also, cheat-terraform the land into useful things.
Then just play the game as normally, but since you had a massive advantage from the start, you can easily fuck things up, FIX THEM and still be on top, rather than chewed up by AI half-way through.

>> No.5615059

>>5615020
This seems like it may harbor bad habits and it's not like Civ2 Deity / SMAC Transcend are really hard to beat.
Better training wheels is to just play the easy factions like University, Hive, Peacekeepers or Gaians on easy. While spamming Supply Crawlers.

>> No.5615107

>>5615059
It is a perfect training route when you are utterly green in this game. And if you still can't keep up despite doing so, then you shouldn't be playing at all.
Said that, my first game ever (as Gaians), was a walk in a park, despite my only prior experience with 4X was HoMM2

>> No.5615117

>>5615020
And savescum, so you can always go back to where you went wrong

>> No.5615120

>>5615117
Save-scumming is the go-to method of opening pods, too. Reload until you've got AT LEAST bonus resource out of it and something else, too.

>> No.5615129

>>5609101
By playing superior Moo instead.
Just kidding

I am so shit I lose at both moo and this

>> No.5617381

>>5615120
Might as well tell them about ctrl-k too.
It reveals the map

>> No.5617834

If reading old game reports from a huge civilization fan doesnt sound like the most boring thing in the world to you, this site has some pretty good stuff. For alpha centauri he has 1 run as each faction showing off different play styles.
http://www.dos486.com/alpha/

>> No.5618156

>>5617381
The whole discussion started with openly telling OP to use cheat mode, anon.

>> No.5618161

>>5617834
>All those overlapping bases
Ugh... If you aren't doing ICS, then at least have the fucking dignity to plan things out for maximum efficiency, rather than popping bases 3 tiles apart.

>> No.5618182

I love this game. I really like the meta in the cutscenes too.

>> No.5618183

>>5618161
Which one are you reading? They're very varied and some even have variants that specifically do not employ certain things to showcase certain mechanics.

>> No.5618341

>>5617834
Thanks for posting this

>> No.5619348

>>5618183
Gaian one, since duh, Gaians
I absolutely hate when bases overlap, since it's a pointless waste, unless it's done for ICS purpose. It isn't in this case

>> No.5619394

>>5619348
Keeping some overlap in case of resources makes sense pre pop-boom, though, because your colonies don't start off being able to work all tiles at once.
If I have just a few tiles of overlap I can micromanage the upgraded tiles on overlapping tiles between a few towns depending on which one needs it more at the moment.
Settling cities closer still makes you spend fewer Colony Pod turns on putting them into place. The overall benefits from cities sharing tiles include
>resource sharing; 2-3 colonies can share the same Borehole, for example, to finish their projects, passing it to each other when they're done with crucial buildings, switching to full Food production inbetween;
>better ability to use a colony as a helper colony (later in the game it gives away most of its tiles to the more important city, but early on it is a good source of Formers and Supply Crawlers to feed the "main" city)
>easier defense (easier to reinforce a city in case your neighbor has one or two Impact Rovers too many)
Of course late in the game overlap ensures that you have to either pick a "master" and a "slave" colony within the overlap sphere or split the tiles evenly between the two cities, but within the first - most important - couple hundred turns when you're pop-locked I think there's plenty of benefits to reap from just slight overlap.
Maximum efficiency in the late game might mean a few turns shaven off a successful transcendence, but you don't know if proper micro between overlapping colonies won't make your growth better overall, shaving turns all the same.

>> No.5619453

>>5609101
It takes a little time, you should start on lower difficulties, just like master of orion, then adjust when things change as you progress.
Save your game early and often.

>> No.5619814

>>5609101
>pick Yang
>run planned police state
>cover the map in cities
>kill everyone