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This is a thread for a game between me and jeroendstout. 2 human players, 5 AI factions.
Players and turn order:
Gaia's Stepdaughters
Human Hive
University of Planet
Morganites
Spartan Federation
Lord's Believers
Peacekeeping Forces
Gaia’s Stepdaughters - AI Human Hive - jeroendstout
University of Planet - AI Morganites- AI Spartan Federation- AI Lord's Believers- Nevill Peacekeeping Forces- AI
The PBEM rules:
A player may not:
1. Reload the game multiple times or load the game into the scenario editor
2. Conduct diplomacy prior to having met in-game
3. Use colony pods to increase a base beyond its maximum population limit
4. Use build queue manipulation or other exploits to hurry production at reduced costs, or build something that could not directly be built
5. Take advantage of the stockpile energy bug by adding it after units in build queues
6. Upgrade crawlers before adding them to secret projects
7. Make social engineering changes and then change back in the same turn
8. Connect multiple artifacts to the same network node (supposedly possible if you rename the city)
10. Trade bases with AI factions (buying bases is also prohibited, but gifting is OK)
11. Setting the home of a unit to the base of a pacted AI faction
12. Transfer missiles to AI factions
13. Start a terraforming task in one square, cancel it, move to a different square and then finish it there (in case of combat terraforming)
14. Perform an act of aggression against a player and complete pending negotiations in the same turn
Reverse-engineering is however allowed, with the exception of a Probe and a Speeder chassis.
Probing other players requires one to choose the vendetta option and inform them afterwards if they weren't at war to begin with.
Planetary Council information must be fully shared with all players.
Do not use the design workshop to bypass the "no upgrading after moving" rule.
Do not retire unit designs through the design workshops (upgrade or disband them on the map, modify the design into something new in the workshop).
Planetary Transit System is BANNED. If the AI builds it, and you capture the city, it has to be OBLITERATED. Nuke it from the orbit, it's the only way to be sure! Or you can gift it to another AI... but where is fun in that?
SMAC is a game that really doesn't lend itself to learning-through-practice or spectating. You spend dozens or even hundreds in-game years, and it looks like you are doing just fine. Then, out of the blue, another player appears and steamrolls you with superior technology in a matter of single-digit turns. And the worst part of it, you never knew how he got there.
Decades of planning for a conflict that resolves instantly with a binary result is not something that most find very entertaining.
I think the most fun I had learning and playing SMAC was in Hot Seat, competing with others in plain sight. I knew exactly what I was doing wrong - or at least worse than my opponents, - what my weak points were, and what I should be doing to remedy that. It encouraged strategical play by slowly amassing enough of a lead that the opponents could not do anything about even when they knew what was coming. It also ensured that later, when people went separate ways and couldn't play on the same computer anymore, they were on approximately the same level.
So I think I'll just play it openly and just post here what I will be doing, at least up to a certain point.
I can make a second thread if people want to try a game with several players. This thread is for a duel, which means that all seats were taken from the start.
I am actually turning this game into a series of YouTube videos, so you will be able to see in real-time from my perspective what happens—but only several weeks after it is over. Starting Monday I am actually broadcasting a whole series of Morgan (me) vs Gaians (a friend not on this forum), which was a real builder game. If you are really interested in AAR's (and if I may self-advertise), my channel is https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC09TabkYZfaGwkQzXsyzYdA. (My production value went up after series 1 episode 1, which was more a test run.)
But do try to get into the PBEM! Some games are only a turn a day and it can be good fun, and playing against humans means you actually have to make sure you infiltrate, guard cities... and sometimes at night you lie awake in your bed hoping they are not preparing the doom-drop.
I have too much Dominions 4 going on to commit to that just now, but I'd love to play a game someday soon, especially perhaps after watching you finish this one. I read some pretty advanced guides back in the day, but forgot everything :D
Your self-advertising worked, I've now watched your videos and enjoyed them a lot. Tempo is just right, your voice is smooth and nice to listen to, play level is solid. My only complaint is your hair. I hope you continue, and fast!
You have no idea how much discipline it requires to do your hair properly when you know you are only doing 30 seconds of video, and it is really late, and you have been making use of Miriam's private reserve.
At least, (honest question,) I think you mean just it being untidy in some parts? I think as turns went on I got a bit more disciplined. I'll up the quality of my hair, production wise, with newly recorded videos.
I even learned how to pronounce 'Alpha Centauri' correctly, eventually.
Your self-advertising worked, I've now watched your videos and enjoyed them a lot. Tempo is just right, your voice is smooth and nice to listen to, play level is solid.I hope you continue, and fast!
Thank you very much! I am really happy you like it. I was not really sure how well it would go. I will post a new video for series 2 every Monday for quite a few weeks, while recording this game (series 3).
I wish I did, as far as I can tell I am practically the first person on YouTube to do MP LPs of SMAC. (Thereby also the one with the best hair.) The single-player LPs are rarely by experienced players, which is a shame as I actually would want to watch others play it.
Not to badmouth other players on YouTube, but part of what made me think of recording was exactly that nobody had any way of seeing turn by turn, action by action, a MP SMAC game. (That and the e-sport dollar.)
I'm just trolling about the hair :D It's long, but it's not messy. It's actually impressive how seamless your turn transitions edits are.
I've been playing Dominions 4 (only turn based strategy I'd say is better than SMAC) for a bit now and it's very starved for MP LPs as well so I've watched plenty of youtubers just starting to have a go at it. Gotta say you are miles ahead in quality and production values than any of those start-ups I've seen. Well done man, and thanks for giving us an insight into SMAC MP. Can't wait for you to actually meet some players, earlygame is similar to singleplayer but still enjoyable.
Since we're talking, two questions bugging me:
In your current game, wouldn't using the bonus minerals of a new base be much, much better used on formers than on a scout? Terraforming advantages snowball pretty quickly. If you are that worried about mindworms you could supply an escort scout from an already improved city.
Is undirected research or whasitsname the norm for MP? I've always played with the option of choosing your research directly, is there some reason you/the MP community prefer the other option?
Let us not forget that it is that unity, of all those who consent to work, which enables perimeters around our cities,
enables food for our feeding bays, brings us the energy to power our laboratories and the raw materials for the
Great Rover Fleet. If any of the other pods have survived Planetfall, Planet will surely have torn those people apart.
We are sole survivors of Humanity and represent its final, ultimate ideal: cohesion and transcendence.
Where is the unity of those who deserted these ideals, refused to work, and were marched away into the Yellow Mountains?
They have been scattered and blown. They are grains of sand, away from the desert.
— Feeding bay watchvid (marking the 50th Human Year after landing, the 9th year of the Unifying Police Forces)
Though the game has now advanced to year 2150, I only have screenshots up to 2120+. Also, since I am taking them after the fact, sometimes it is getting hard to replicate pod effects.
2102. Off to a decent start here.
Miriam has a long way to do until the discovery of Centauri Ecology, so starting location becomes immensely important, especially so when the Flexible Start option is turned off and I have no say in where to put my first base. Fortunately, there are two rolling/rainy squares in the base vicinity, so at least I can get a third Colony Pod out quickly. Er, quicker.
The nearby pod has Industrial Base technology, which is utterly useless to me and only slows down the research.
2104. Found a river. Time to settle my 2nd colony down. The first base has produced a scout for a quick recon.
2106. The ruins in fungus tell me that I have landed near Manifold Nexus. It would have been a tremendous boon for ANY OTHER faction that doesn't have -1 Planet modifier.
2108. Exploration is underway.
2110. My first base is about to grow, and the scouts are away. No matter, In God We Trust!
I am somewhat unused to playing with Unity pods enabled. On one hand, they should be popped ASAP. On the other hand, they might contain an 'instant hurry-up' bonus that needs to be properly timed to get the best of, or plain worms. That prompts me to delay picking up pods until I am ready to deal with consequences. Sadly, it was a mistake. Always pop pods early. You need the resourses.
2112. For a second there, I was afraid I am on an island.
Having no research for 10 years has the 'benefit' of collecting additional money. Every turn counts.
2116. Trawling fungus for worms is not very successful. Only one hatchling emerges. That's just 10 extra credits.
Since there is no sign of nutrient resourses, I have to settle my third Colony Pod close to HQ where it can feed from a rainy square.
2118. Centauri Ecology is finally discovered. Go, Believers!! You can make it!
Spoiler: in 2150 they will be tech leaders. SMAC works in mysterious ways.
Time to start building formers, then.
2120. A disastrous pod popping attempt spawned a worm that ate my scout and is closing on my base. 25 credits had to be expended to hurry another scout. A costly mistake.
2121. The 4th base is on the way to the only nutrient I see. This is not the most promising start I've had.
Things look a bit shaky, with the territory being rather unremarkable so far, but hey! You never know. Maybe the other guy is having it worse!
Remembering stuff a week after it happened is a bit hard. Some of the events just happen on the fly.
2122. Continuing the exploration and chasing off the mind worm boil. My sole former starts planting my first forest.
2124. Second tech researched. This time it's Doctrine: Mobility. A decent one, but it is of no use to me right now. But it serves as a prerequisite to Doctrine: Flexibility, and that is tremendously useful because it enables ships.
The Colony Pod has arrived to its destination, and I will need to turn the southern scout around to protect the base and serve as a police force. No more exploration for me in the south.
2125. It's the year when we make our first contact since Planetfall.
He begins with asking us for techs.
But refuses the proposed exchange.
But when we ask him what trade terms would be acceptable to him, we get this:
The man is clearly insane.
Still, he has money, and money is what we currently need.
I always take those offers. In 100 years we will be earning hundreds of credits per day, why not? 100 credits now are more valuable than 500 in 50 years.
If you wanted any further proof of his insanity, you need not look further. I asked him to sign a Pact of Brotherhood, and he requested negative payment for his trouble.
Yes, you actually receive money if you accept. Yes, it's a bug. No, I didn't accept.
Instead I waited for him to come up with the proposal by himself, and agreed to it.
Got a nice map of the continent out of it, too.
One thing that I didn't learn from Hotseat is how to explore and scout. I am terrible at it. You never need to learn how to find enemy probes or combat units when you are looking over your opponent's shoulder. So when it comes to PBEMs, lack of information is my biggest problem, and it just got fixed for me by an AI.
I see now that the terrain around my starting place is terrible. If I want it to get better, I need to start popping Unity pods and hope for monoliths/nutrients. I settle down my Colony Pod in a place that would have both Unity pods and a sea nutrient bonus in the base radius. If those pods contain resourses, the base would profit off them. As it turned out later, they both did.
And it took me a quarter of a century, but I now have my first tile terraformed. Yay!!
Well, not really. My faction is as backwards as it gets. But things are looking up!
2127. I begin to regret leaving Unity pods for later. You see, Pact Brothers are allowed in each other's territory freely, and now I have Morgan's scout on my turf threatening to reap all the benefits I thought I saved up for myself.
Popping one of them sends my scout halfway across the map. Good thing is, there is somebody close to Morgan (see the border near his HQ) that I may want to contact, though he denies having any knowledge of their identity (see BLATANT LIES). Bad thing is, I have one less scout in my territory to protect my pods from Morgan.
After building 4 formers, all my bases are set to create Colony Pods.
2128. A new Colony Pod sets out to build another base. I do not enjoy building them so close to each other, but it is the only tile that has a monolith and a nutrient bonus in range, and a tight placement has its benefits. For one, it allows to distribute support between the bases more evenly (if you make more units than the base can support freely, just move them to the next base and rehome them there), and it allows policing your bases with fewer scouts since you can move your policemen around, to where they are needed more.
2130. And... built! Another pod produces another monolith in base radius, so Righteous Sentence has a chance to become a real beauty.
It's about this time that I trade one of my techs for Morgan's Information Networks. Usually, I do not trade techs with AIs without need. The more techs you know, the more you are slowing yourself down. But I was researching a white tech (Blind Research prevents me from knowing what exactly I will get), and I didn't want to waste several turns in case this one was already known to my ally. Time is precious.
2132. I learn Biogenetics. It is of no use to me currently - the Recycling Tanks are too slow for my liking at this stage, and the Genome Project is a downright luxury item when I have no mineral bonuses in my territory. Losing 40 years worth of production in a base when I have so few of them is out of the question.
From on High is finally ready to grow. My idea was to use it to colonize south, since all my other bases are too far away..
You may notice that most of my bases are empty. Very few have scout patrols in them for policing or self-defence. That's because most of the bases are size 1, since I build Colony Pods almost immediately after they reach size 2. If I have to pay money for it, so be it.
SMAC is a game of snowballing. If you have an early advantage, it grows bigger and bigger with each passing turn. That serves as a foundation of my playing style - I am extremely reckless in my expansion efforts. No military, no police, no nothing, just formers and colonists. An early invasion, or even several mind worm incursions would wreck me. I accept that risk. A few games ended that way, with a daring raid from my opponent while the game was still in its infancy.
More often than not, though, it pays off, and I come ahead in the end.
Here is Righteous Sentence. I intend to eventually plant a forest on the tile with nutrients, but for now, a monolith will suffice. Note that growing the base takes 9 turns, and building the pod takes 9 turns. There is no need for police!
A Colony Pod from my capital is sent to claim the northern reaches, far away from my current base cluster. One reason is that they have another nutrient bonus, the second one on my part of the continent (did I mention my start was crappy?).
The other reason is a bit more dickish. I'll get to it on turn 2136.
2133. Nothing major to report. Revelation Base has built a Colony Pod, and I decided to settle it on the same turn, just across the river.
Again, this is placing the bases too close to each other, and I would not usually do that, but 1) It's a river tile, which means extra energy. My research being what it is, I can't overlook it.2) There is a 2-1-1 farm tile on a river that makes the place better than 90% of my territory 3) Any other potentially good places are not terraformed yet to bring acceptable yields. Therefore, I'll take what I can get.
Building more bases is more important than building good bases at this stage.
2135. The last 2 years were great! First, Morgan's scout has managed to pop one of the pods - despite my best efforts to outrun it - but I got a nutrient bonus as consolation prize. Then, my own scout found another nutrient bonus!
The start immediately became 300% better. Yeah, I know, I probably should have popped these pods earlier. But if there were mindworms in there, I'd be completely screwed.
I am... building Recreation Commons in my HQ? I have no idea why I did that or what I was thinking. Maybe I thought about preparing for the eventual switch to Free Market?
Anyway, this year is the year of Spartan Diplomacy. Which was brief and to the point.
That was quick.
She didn't even make a request! Or bothered with any kind of pretext, for that matter. Goodbye, my scout, I hardly knew you.
2136. At first glance, the year started fine. For some reason, Santiago didn't attack my scout and I withdrew him to a rocky terrain where it will be safe. At the second one... my unguarded Colody Pod ran headfirst into a mind worm. Ouch. This is going to sting.
Why was I so keen on heading north? Well, that's easy. As a Pact Brother, I have full infiltration with Morgan, meaning I can see his units on the SUPPORT tab, as well as their orders. His Colony Pod is moving to a (66,8) tile.
And though I can't see the Pod itself, I know exactly where its destination is.
So I sent mine there in order to claim the useful territory for myself and deny it to my 'ally'.
But alas! The worm gobbled up the pod without as much as breaking a sweat!
2138. My vanguard in hostile territory has discovered two Colony Pods. Apparently, the colonel didn't know what to do with them after she signed a treaty with Morgan, which made it impossible for her to expand. The AI in this game is dumb. What else is new?
2139. There isn't much to talk about. The worms run amok. I send out a scout to intercept them. The bases are continuing to produce Colony Pods, but there are a few scouts in production as well. What gives?
Well, I'll soon be hitting the Bureaucracy limits, which gives me additional Drones to watch out for. Soon, even 1-sized bases won't be able to work without a policeman scout inside. I need to be prepared for it.
Oh, and we totally kicked Santiago's ass!
...by which I mean we barely managed to kill a bunch of unarmed civilians. Damn, those guys fight back hard!
In 2140, I finally research Doctrine: Flexibility. This opens up sea exploration, which is much, much more lucrative than a land one!
A whole lot of nutrient resourses mean a whole lot of new bases. I often mark those locations on my map so that I don't forget where to send my next Colony Pod.
The sites in the south are chosen so that each base could reach either nutrient resourse, and so that both bases would have access to the ocean. Yes, even the inland one, which would become connected to the shore via a small lake.
Impressed by our sheer bloodthirst regarding her colonists, Santiago signs a Blood Truce. I knew that wanton genocide is always the best solution!
And I finally come to my senses and cancel the Recreation Commons in my HQ in favor of a more pressing need.
And hurry up the production of the prototype, too.
The next year will signal the dawn of a new Era!! The Era of Seafaring!
State of the Empire as of 2140:
Research:
Compared to my opponent (only the techs he doesn't have show up here):
2142. I believe this is the year where I have surpassed my bureaucracy limit, even though the effect did not become apparent until I founded one more base.
Because I consider sea exploration important, and the base is a port, I order it to construct a gunship.
Since I am researching a yellow tech, I decide to trade with Morgan so that I won't waste my time on a tech known to my ally. I get Industrial Economics and Non-Linear Mathematics out of the exchange.
I may be able to run Free Market in a not so distant future, but I will need to prepare for it in advance.
2143. I find Applied physics in a pod. Meh. I already have superior weaponry.
The more techs you have, the more difficult it is to make your next breakthrough. Thoughtlessly collecting knowledge just because you can is not good for you in this game.
2144. I continue expanding my territory. My two ships are searching for more pods.
Notice that my ships tend to start their turns near Unity pods. That is deliberate on my part. Popping a pod with an Isle of the Deep costs 3 movement points for some reason. If I don't do this at the beginning of my turn, the ship runs out of moves, and the Isle devours it. If I do it my way, I have a slim chance to retreat back and hope the Isle will turn its attention somewhere else.
2145. The Holy Fire is founded next to Morgan's border, pushing it back.
I didn't show it before, but both pods in the vicinity of From On High produced additional resourses. The base has a lot of potential.
2146. Sea exploration was a complete bust. Not a lot of useful bonuses, not a lot of money, but a lot of IotDs instead who proceed to sink my scouting gunships.
My second ship fares marginally better, discovering a pod that throws it across the map, close to the Spartans.
Still, the scouting efforts produce just enough benefits to be susteinable, so I build more ships back home, hoping to find something worthwhile one day.
Morgan finally puts his third base down, and I have to settle the Colony Pod that was heading north when it was halfway to its destination..
2147. Nothing extraordinary happening. A new ship from Holy Fire replaced the one sunk by IotD. A few more Colony Pods were built. Business as usual.
2148. I discover Planetary Networks. I am one tech away from Industrial Automation, which will become a turning point in the game.
And my new gunship avenges its predecessor. The IotD was carrying 2 mind worm boils. With 20 credits for each, I have a net profit of 60. Neat, but I'd rather preferr finding raw energy in my pods to having to fight for it and losing units in the process.
Industrial Automation is a tech I absolutely can't do without, but it does not look like I can get it any time soon. All the trades I did with Morgan have caught up with me, and my next research is at best 16 turns away. That is unacceptable. So I decide not to invest in research much, and start collecting energy instead.
My best bet to get out of this predicament is to switch to Free Market ASAP, otherwise I am going to stagnate.
2149. The preparations for the switch in Economics are underway. Righteous Sentence is the first base to build Recreation Commons. Now we won't have to fear Drone riots.
And the lake base, the existence of which I predicted about 10 years ago, is finally settled, too. Despite being placed in the middle of the continent, it has access to the ocean through The Glory of God. This number of port bases may become important if I happen to need to produce a large fleet in a short time.
2150. Halfway through the century. Two more bases finish the construction of Recreation Commons. SOON.
And what do you know, I am the planetary tech leader on par with University! Nevermind that I can't research anything worth shit (26 years until next breakthrough).
State of the Empire as of 2150.
Techs:
Compared to my opponent:
Looks like he is nowhere close to Industrial Automation, and with no Doctrine: Flexibility either his chances to acquire it from AIs aren't great.
Money:
17 credits is not much, but it helps hurry the buildings. One thing that Miriam has and Yang doesn't is money.
Bases:
10 bases so far, with 13 population in total. Yand also has 13, though I suspect the number of bases to be slightly less. All production is centered on Recreation Commons, with a few Colony Pods here and there.
Units:
I have reached the point where I can't ignore base defences because I need police units to quell Drones. That's why I have 9 scouts.
Secret Projects:
Hive seems to have started 2 of them. I want to grab Weather Paradigm, but I don't think I will mak it in time. If I had crawlers, it might have been different...
