Alpha Centauri Gameplay Question

C

c0ldst33ltrs4u

Vault Dweller
Ok, here goes:
later in the game, when you have a developed state your bases begin to pollute. Sure you can construct things to reduce the damage but can you eliminate it? I mean you can build the forests, the preserve, the nanoreplicator and adopt green economy and stuff but I have this one base (just an example) that has no mines, just forests, fungus and roads. The thing is that with all the buildings that increases mineral output and stuff I have like 12-15 pollution. Can I do something to fix that?

Now this leads to the next question. When you fuck with the ecosystem it fucks you right back :roll: so worms and locusts show up in large numbers (an improvement get trashed and worms just pop up); now that isn't that bad because if you can kill them while they are Grouped together you can get a lot of credits (15-20 worms times 50-70 energy, hell that's more than I make in a turn from the economy) but here is the problem: bunkers, if they 'spawn' in a bunker you can only kill one at a time and that means having a lot of units. Usually I have to bring back-up from the bases around that spot. Now here is the trick question: can I make the terraformers NOT build bunkers on their own and still have them on auto? Is there an option for that? I mean I looked around but I couldn't find anything.
Anyway thanks in advance for the input. Cheers!
 
Pollution is unavoidable. It's a product of not only your industry, but simply a byproduct of population.
 
c0ldst33ltrs4u said:
Now this leads to the next question. When you fuck with the ecosystem it fucks you right back :roll: so worms and locusts show up in large numbers (an improvement get trashed and worms just pop up); now that isn't that bad because if you can kill them while they are Grouped together you can get a lot of credits (15-20 worms times 50-70 energy, hell that's more than I make in a turn from the economy) but here is the problem: bunkers, if they 'spawn' in a bunker you can only kill one at a time and that means having a lot of units. Usually I have to bring back-up from the bases around that spot. Now here is the trick question: can I make the terraformers NOT build bunkers on their own and still have them on auto? Is there an option for that? I mean I looked around but I couldn't find anything.
Anyway thanks in advance for the input. Cheers!
Click to expand...
You might get better question at some AC Mod forum since im sure they deal with unit and terraformer scripts and I agree the formers need a better script.

PS. Glad somebody else is playing this great game, also sugest you get the addon, it adds few nice things. Oh yeah glory to Spartans. :D
 
Not sure about the terraformers, I always liked to have total control over my terrain modifiers to get the most from them.
Mind worms are great though when you play as Deirdre. Get you a free army in no time :).

I don't understand why Sid Meier is stuck on Civilization when AC was clearly a better game with a lot more neat features in it. I'm surprised more haven't made the transition as the various factions in AC were truly unique. Playing as Sparta was completely different than playing as Deirdre which was completely different than the Hive.

Sigh, plus the tech/governments just seemed so much more complex in AC. Ah well. I'm gonna load it up meself soon.

Sorry I can't help :(.
 
Heh, I just loaded up this game for the very first time, after finding it cheap at EBgames... So far it's very confusing, but I'm still going at it...

Sorry, can't help you with that question.
 
I do have a suggestion for you guys, if you want to get rid of the new unit designs the game makes for you very time you discover some new weapon, chassis or whatever there is an option that allows you to disable automatic design. I always liked to make my own designs and give them some nice unique names; like CGT - Clean Gardening Tool aka terraformers with a clean reactor 8). Plus if you let the program have it's way it will clutter up your base building screen with useless and redundant unit designs; oh and you have a limited number of unit design slots, meaning in the end game you may not have enough slots to design the units you want and will have to clean up some of the slots (Retire unit). Disabling this option (preferences menu, look around) will safe you a lot of grief and the perpetual scrolling through 20 unit designs only to find the one you want 8)
 
Aye, truly a god send when you get the vehicles that travel over land/water to attack.

And thanks for the tip c0ld... it's always bugged me having to siff through a lengthy list of units just to find the 2 or 3 that I wanted.

Another tip, always play ironman! It gives you a nice boost to your score and why would you save unless you were done playing anyway :).

And for Duckman... I'd recommend playing the first time through as Ziurbowsky or whatever the University groups name is. The game is confusing but they have a nice research boost to get you a feel for technology and the various methods of doing things. The game is definitely not as user friendly as the civ series but wait til you get an understanding of it... heaven on earth.
 
Well University is nice, they have free network nodes at each base = you can cash in alien artifacts right away. They also have shitty security so probe/spies are a serious pain in the behind. What you need is the Sentient Algorithms or something like that (mid game secret project wich gives you immunity to probes; hijack this biatch ) :lol: .
And the major setback, this you should really look out for: every fourth citizen becomes a drone, not counting any buildings that affect psych. So base of 4 - 1 drone bonus, base of 8 - 2 drones bonus. So you really want to watch out for the talent/drone ratio, if you have more drones than talents you get a riot.
On the other hand there is another project, The Virtual World wich gives you a hollo theater for every network node in the University's case free...
God I love this game, it's so.... balanced...
Have fun and don't let the mind worms bite :lol:
 
Aye, c0ld, the nice advantage with University is all of those disadvantages can be offset with secret projects.. and since University as a tech advantage, they can get to those projects faster than everyone else :).

Dear lord, probes can be incredibly annoying though.

I think the only faction I could never get the hang of were the believers. There tech disadvantage was just too great and I could never play them well. On the other hand, when playing against them, they always seemd to be ready to go to war right away (and die a painful death).

Mmm and planet busters :).

Also, does anyone have/tried the expansion pack? I always heard it was interesting but never picked it up.
 
If by expansion pack you mean the update here http://www.firaxis.com/smac/downloads.cfm I just downloade it today and I've already found some new interesting stuff.
I wonder.... have you had any trouble with the transcendence victory, each time I try to build the first secret project that leads to transcendence the game crashes on completion... wich sucks (pirate version ) :roll: . Maybe the patch solved that...
Got to go lead the Spartans to victory!
Santiago out. :lol:
edit
Mmm and planet busters Smile.
Click to expand...
= Atrocity + huge puddle, cool :twisted:
 
Transcendence has always worked fine for me.

And I don't just mean updates for the expansion... The expansion is called Alien Crossfire (seen on the bottom). I had always considered getting it but looking it up now, the cheapest it can be found is 150 - 200 dollars.

It added two alien species and a few new human ones. One of hte human ones started out on water (the pirates) and as such, had a huge advantage in terms of water domination but as perfect as the game is, it made sure to keep things balanced.

Damn lol, now i want to play again. I wish I'd brought it with me this summer to work.
 
c0ldst33ltrs4u said:
Ok, here goes:
later in the game, when you have a developed state your bases begin to pollute. Sure you can construct things to reduce the damage but can you eliminate it? I mean you can build the forests, the preserve, the nanoreplicator and adopt green economy and stuff but I have this one base (just an example) that has no mines, just forests, fungus and roads. The thing is that with all the buildings that increases mineral output and stuff I have like 12-15 pollution. Can I do something to fix that?
Click to expand...

Easy answer: Go Democratic, Green, Knowledge, Cybernetic and have all the Secret Projects and base enhancements that reduce pollution. Depending on how much you stack production and pop, you might still have a problem but this is all you can do. Oh yeah, assuming you have Alien Crossfire, hold the Manifold Nexus as well.

Now this leads to the next question. When you fuck with the ecosystem it fucks you right back :roll: so worms and locusts show up in large numbers (an improvement get trashed and worms just pop up); now that isn't that bad because if you can kill them while they are Grouped together you can get a lot of credits (15-20 worms times 50-70 energy, hell that's more than I make in a turn from the economy) but here is the problem: bunkers, if they 'spawn' in a bunker you can only kill one at a time and that means having a lot of units. Usually I have to bring back-up from the bases around that spot. Now here is the trick question: can I make the terraformers NOT build bunkers on their own and still have them on auto? Is there an option for that? I mean I looked around but I couldn't find anything.
Click to expand...

An option exists in the terraformer stuff for this. Trust me, I've looked. (Though personally, you should do it all by hand in my opinion. Neat trick for EXTRA ENERGY: Order aquifiers built on every square possible in a base radius. This will create an ultra river that will give you more energy and better defense. Basically an exploit but oh well.)

Also regarding bunkers. Don't EVER build them if you aren't occupying them. (Enemy captures in one turn and then they will turn it into an artillery bunker, which I think we all agree is annoying and sometimes effective.) Instead build sensors.

Anyway thanks in advance for the input. Cheers!
Click to expand...

Alpha Centauri fans are the Thinkers and Transcendenti of this Planet.
 
Lazarus, I did all that and a base that had no mines was polluting... that base had only forests and fungus around it and tubes... it gets a bit absurd but what the heck...

Something quaint happened last night, I'm playing the spartans and I had just finished off the Hive and had set my greedy eyes upon the Gaians who were on the same continent, the neighbors of the late Hive. So I try to pick a fight, I open the comlink and ask Deidre for one of her bases, the biggest one in fact, with the alternative of going to war (my troops were stationed in two towns along the border). I was certain she would refuse and declare Vendetta or something... but to my surprise she agrees and hands over the base! Drat! Plan B: ask her for tribute... she pays and then politely refuses to speak to me any more... That has never happened to me before, usually they declare war. What pussies!

As for the troubles with the bunkers the thing is that the automated formers just build them and I really don't want to control manually at least 20 formers and sea formers and I can't find any option or something similar that would allow me to stop them from building... So I have to make more and more troops to occupy the bunkers or destroy them manually... but the blasted things just build them back eventually... cursed be their deficient scripting :roll:
 
While we are talking about AC, I really need to ask, what was the point in making "clean" planetbusters???
 
Milo said:
While we are talking about AC, I really need to ask, what was the point in making "clean" planetbusters???
Click to expand...

I guess they take up support... (though I am not sure.) So making them "clean" works for that, but it raises the cost.

I always built smaller fission busters for precise work. I don't like blowing a hole in a continent unless I must.
 
Yeah, the clean generator thing means it does not count for support, no minerals from the home base are needed to maintain them wich means a lot if you go for a large army and if you have a low support in the social choices screen. Otherwise you might end up with bases wich produce no minerals at all so you can't build anything. That is especially hard on the smaller bases, having a mineral out put of say 10 and having to give 2 to support means a 20% loss and a much slower development rate. Also later in the game each base will have to be well defended wich would mean at least two infantry, one that has the ecm thingie (+ 50% against fast units) and an S.A.M. (bonus against air units). Add to that at least a rover for quick pre-emptive attacks against mind worms and enemy artillery and a former, two if the base has sea access, and you have to support at least 4-5 units wich would mean 3-4 minerals (with low support score). For this situation clean generators are blessing.
 
Lazarus Plus said:
Milo said:
While we are talking about AC, I really need to ask, what was the point in making "clean" planetbusters???
Click to expand...

I guess they take up support... (though I am not sure.) So making them "clean" works for that, but it raises the cost.

I always built smaller fission busters for precise work. I don't like blowing a hole in a continent unless I must.
Click to expand...

Ahh, that makes sense.

I would build the biggest bombs I could, with Zakharov I would be the first to attain them, any use of the planetbuster payload is an atrocity, A large bomb is much better as a tool of intimidation than an actual weapon. If I ever actually reached the point where I needed to use one I wouldn't want a tool for precise work, ya know?

anyway thanks for the info
 
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