So far, random map has been a unanimous choice, with random faction and Gaians tied at two votes each (one vote for Morgan).
To be honest, I'm not sure how interesting this game is going to be though. Going in with a definite, start-to-finish plan tends to remove a lot of the unexpectedness or what have you.
I'm confident there's still enough variability in a tiny map for an interesting game (even with my rule stipulations), and it will be a useful contrast to the huge map experience. My game plan will still have to change somewhat depending on the map, which faction I start next to, and what I get from my first pods.
Well if you are doin a round of smac in spirit of those 2 games. I'd say pick one of the factions they used. So Spartans or Gaians. And is it a bad thing I actually remember when that thread was new.... sheesh, 12 years.... has it really been that long.
That's very cool! My experience chimes with zsozso's a little, in that after winning on a huge map at transcend difficulty, I was burnt out on SMAC for a while. The tiny-map transcend challenge managed to re-ignite my interest - it's something I try every couple of years or so.
I just got SMAC very recently...any tips for a noob? I'm playing as the spartans.
You start with an independent rover - use that to explore your starting area, but watch its health and try not to get it killed - once it has popped any nearby pods, it should retreat to your first city to act as police. Independent units are precious, as they don't need to be supported by cities, so don't risk them unnecessarily.
Research centauri ecology for formers ASAP - build one in each city. Use formers to connect your cities with roads to aid mobility. Forests are a good default terraforming choice for moist or arid squares.
In general, you want to build a cheap 1/1 scout patrol unit in each city to act as your police and mind worm defence, as it's half the mineral cost of a rover. Later in the game (once you have better tech) these cheap units can be upgraded instantly using crt+U if you suddenly need a highly armoured defender. Note that psychic combat with mind worms depends exclusively on morale value, ignoring armour and weapon values.
Once you get Intellectual Integrity (E3), press U, design a 1/1 police scout patrol (add the special ability "non-lethal methods"), then upgrade all existing scout patrols to the new police version, to double your effectiveness at controlling drones (this will cost 10 energy credits per unit). Repeat this process for any rovers acting as police. Note that a Spartan Police State has a +3 police value (which also doubles police effectiveness) - in this case, each new police unit will nullify 4 drones.
The main Spartan advantage is a hefty bonus to unit morale along with free prototyping - essentially you're pretty good when it comes to beating up other factions and building new weapon technology. Researching laser (applied physics), followed by information networks and impact weapons (nonlinear mathematics), is an effective early-game strategy, known as the dreaded "rover rush". Few enemy factions will be able to withstand being swamped with a horde of 4/1 Spartan rovers in the first 50 turns of the game.
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Topic: Let's Play SMAC on a tiny map - Chapter one: The gospel according to zsozso (Read 22609 times)