sid meier's alpha centauri: when you make planetfall and the worms eat you all,

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > YOSPOS > sid meier's alpha centauri: when you make planetfall and the worms eat you all,

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Pile Of Garbage: May 28, 2007

PittTheElder posted:

Yea the default terraforming AI is not great, it's one of the reasons the AI can't really compete in the late game. There's a couple different way to optimize it (Vel's guide goes over it, with separate sections for the early and middle game), but the short answer is ensure you have enough nutrients for growth, plant forests early and often, and lean into the bonus resources you find.

I think I'm doing pretty good in that area given that I'm locked to a single island at the moment. really in this game the only players with huge open lands are Spartans (anthonypants) and Believers (Boiled Water). imo the Believers should be booming right now...

# ? May 26, 2020 18:33

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# ? May 26, 2024 00:31

Pile Of Garbage: May 28, 2007

Also it's been mentioned before but there is certainly room for peeps to run a parallel game in this thread. This main game has been running for >2 years now and as Glorgnole has mentioned we're confident the thread can handle more than one game 😁

If you want to run a game the following helps:

Inspect the OP for general info on to get the game to run right game
Designate a reliable person to be the "game-master", ideally they will generate the game and start it
CC the game-master on all turn e-mails so that if someone bails they can dive in and recover the game.

Would be wicked to see some more games in the thread.

# ? May 26, 2020 18:52

evilweasel: Aug 24, 2002

i would play again, if people wanted to do another game :unsmith:

# ? May 26, 2020 18:57

Glorgnole: Oct 23, 2012

Pile Of Garbage posted:

Also it's been mentioned before but there is certainly room for peeps to run a parallel game in this thread. This main game has been running for >2 years now and as Glorgnole has mentioned we're confident the thread can handle more than one game 😁

If you want to run a game the following helps:

Inspect the OP for general info on to get the game to run right game

Designate a reliable person to be the "game-master", ideally they will generate the game and start it

CC the game-master on all turn e-mails so that if someone bails they can dive in and recover the game.

Would be wicked to see some more games in the thread.

there are some things i would set up differently for a new game:

use a map specifically designed for balanced multiplayer. for our game, i had to generate about 15 maps to find some where the starting situation didn't completely suck for one or more players, and even after that some factions definitely had more-advantageous starts. in particular, i think the University's continent is much drier than other parts of the map, which has really hindered their growth. in contrast, the Pirates have an excellent start adjacent to the enormous Monsoon Jungle, which Smoka swore off for essentially philosophical reasons. i don't know how balanced the predefined Map of Planet scenarios are, but there are other maps people have made which are available for download on the various forums.
find a way to accelerate or skip the first 50 turns while still making sure everyone has a balanced start. the built-in accelerated start option is apparently quite bad at this. might be an opportunity for some gamemaster scenario editing beforehand.
try to schedule some times when people can be online concurrently. we've had a couple very efficient saturdays where we got through everyone within 24 hours, but that's still not great when you only have 1 or 2 units to move. there's also some sort of direct-connection multiplayer option (as opposed to the play-by-email mode we're using) but i've never tried it before. i think it's possible to have a mix of human and AI players, so that could be a reasonable compromise to reduce the number of players each turn has to visit.

# ? May 26, 2020 22:34

Powered Descent: Jul 13, 2008; We haven't had that spirit here since 1969.

Thread lurker here, expressing interest in getting in on a second game if one should get started.

# ? May 27, 2020 00:36

Ceiling fan: Dec 26, 2003; I really like ceilings.; Dead Man’s Band

I'm down for a game. It'll be fun when we get our wires crossed and start trash talking at people playing in the other game.

# ? May 28, 2020 00:16

Helianthus Annuus: Feb 21, 2006; can i touch your hand; Grimey Drawer

make a new thread for the new game imo

# ? May 28, 2020 00:35

Pile Of Garbage: May 28, 2007

Glorgnole posted:

there are some things i would set up differently for a new game:

use a map specifically designed for balanced multiplayer. for our game, i had to generate about 15 maps to find some where the starting situation didn't completely suck for one or more players, and even after that some factions definitely had more-advantageous starts. in particular, i think the University's continent is much drier than other parts of the map, which has really hindered their growth. in contrast, the Pirates have an excellent start adjacent to the enormous Monsoon Jungle, which Smoka swore off for essentially philosophical reasons. i don't know how balanced the predefined Map of Planet scenarios are, but there are other maps people have made which are available for download on the various forums.

thinking more on this even the best map could unbalanced if player starting locations aren't ideal. this is kinda the case for our game:

hive (myself) and drones (Improbable Lobster) both started on the same medium-sized island and by turn ~75 we'd already run out of space (could have been interesting i guess if we hadn't opted for a pact)
gaians (Glorgnole) started on their own very fertile medium-sized island where they were able to boom and now lead in population by miles
Spartans (anthonypants) and Believers (Boiled Water) were the only ones who started on the largest continent on the map which could have easily accomodated 4 players

not super-bad but certainly not balanced. the best method to resolve this would be to set static start locations in the scenario editor i guess

# ? May 28, 2020 03:33

Improbable Lobster: Jan 6, 2012; "From each according to his ability" said Ares. It sounded like a quotation.; Buglord

handmade yosmap for yosmac2.0

# ? May 28, 2020 05:29

Glorgnole: Oct 23, 2012

Improbable Lobster posted:

handmade yosmap for yosmac2.0

in the darkness something goes *sned*

# ? May 28, 2020 05:42

PittTheElder: Feb 13, 2012; Yes, it's like a lava lamp.

Yeah honestly I think you'd have to start with a designed map and fixed starts, the map generation in this game is abysmal. I'll volunteer to grind away until I get something balanced-ish if there's enough interest for a second game.

# ? May 28, 2020 06:40

Captain Foo: May 11, 2004; we vibin'
we slidin'
we breathin'
we dyin'

Glorgnole posted:

in the darkness something goes *sned*

this is the thread title for the new thread

# ? May 29, 2020 15:59

Pile Of Garbage: May 28, 2007

badass:

https://twitter.com/LuigiThirty/status/1269132242888073217

# ? Jun 9, 2020 09:57

El_Elegante: Jul 3, 2004; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS; Biscuit Hider

Inexplicable Humblebrag posted:

i like to put forests literally everywhere and build treefarms/hybrids to take advantage, because it looks nice

I cannot play this game any other way. Green Planet is the only path.

# ? Jun 9, 2020 16:04

Glorgnole: Oct 23, 2012

smoka got blacksited for anime posting so the sacred duty of sharing punk shanties falls to me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbRQgrOnErc

# ? Jun 11, 2020 00:21

Pile Of Garbage: May 28, 2007

Glorgnole posted:

looks like the election wasn't actually triggered yet. i didn't kick it off this turn, though someone else can start it if they want. i've decided that i'm not going to vote for myself unless my only opponent is the Spartans.

i just played my turn as hive for MY 2219 and tried to call the election however it's too early apparently. normally you have to wait 20 years to call the election except if you're planetary governor then you only have to wait 10 years. the last election was in MY 2208 which is when i was elected so i should have been able to call it. i'll try again next turn.

edit: should have taken a screenshot of it to post so that no unscrupulous individuals can accuse me of lying :lol:

# ? Jun 25, 2020 11:57

Glorgnole: Oct 23, 2012

Pile Of Garbage posted:

i just played my turn as hive for MY 2219 and tried to call the election however it's too early apparently. normally you have to wait 20 years to call the election except if you're planetary governor then you only have to wait 10 years. the last election was in MY 2208 which is when i was elected so i should have been able to call it. i'll try again next turn.

edit: should have taken a screenshot of it to post so that no unscrupulous individuals can accuse me of lying

i did a rough population head-count and i think the Spartans are back up to 2nd place now, so since you're currently governor you might want to hold off on calling the election for another 10 turns lol

# ? Jun 25, 2020 14:41

Glorgnole: Oct 23, 2012

as a contingency back-up plan, at least some of the posters from here are in the yoscord so that's probably a good place to keep talking about SMAC stuff if the forums go away. i'm going to try to stream a turn there, to see if such a thing can work.

in any case i've got email addresses for all the players so that should be able to keep going without any more disruption than usual.

# ? Jun 25, 2020 21:56

Improbable Lobster: Jan 6, 2012; "From each according to his ability" said Ares. It sounded like a quotation.; Buglord

yo glorg feel free to take my turn this round

# ? Jun 25, 2020 23:29

Glorgnole: Oct 23, 2012

Improbable Lobster posted:

yo glorg feel free to take my turn this round

can do!

what would you like me to do from, like, a strategic perspective

# ? Jun 25, 2020 23:50

PittTheElder: Feb 13, 2012; Yes, it's like a lava lamp.

Such a shame there are no planet busters on the board yet...

# ? Jun 26, 2020 01:36

Glorgnole: Oct 23, 2012

Glorgnole posted:

can do!

what would you like me to do from, like, a strategic perspective

i just went ahead and did it and it ended up being p self-explanatory

the only thing that happened of note is that your colony pod triggered a fungal bloom which created a 2nd spore tower

# ? Jun 26, 2020 05:38

Pile Of Garbage: May 28, 2007

it's worms all the way down!

# ? Jun 26, 2020 06:13

Qtotonibudinibudet: Nov 7, 2011; Omich poluyobok, skazhi ty narkoman? ya prosto tozhe gde to tam zhivu, mogli by vmeste uyobyvat' narkotiki

goddamn worms :rrr:

# ? Jun 26, 2020 07:37

Improbable Lobster: Jan 6, 2012; "From each according to his ability" said Ares. It sounded like a quotation.; Buglord

Glorgnole posted:

i just went ahead and did it and it ended up being p self-explanatory

the only thing that happened of note is that your colony pod triggered a fungal bloom which created a 2nd spore tower

yeah i figured it wouldn't be too hard lol

# ? Jun 26, 2020 19:30

Glorgnole: Oct 23, 2012

i was going to try to ~livestream~ my next turn on the yospos discord. looks like friday evening will work OK for me, probably ~7pm US Central. come on by to critique my v poor strategic decisions!

# ? Jul 3, 2020 00:52

SmokaDustbowl: Feb 12, 2001; by vyelkin; Fun Shoe

Glorgnole posted:

i was going to try to ~livestream~ my next turn on the yospos discord. looks like friday evening will work OK for me, probably ~7pm US Central. come on by to critique my v poor strategic decisions!

you still doin it? i'm down

# ? Jul 4, 2020 02:29

Glorgnole: Oct 23, 2012

SmokaDustbowl posted:

you still doin it? i'm down

already did it, soz. i recorded it for posterity, though!

lessons for me for the future:
- be better at scheduling good times w/ other people
- find more ways to make moving 3 units interesting and engaging

# ? Jul 4, 2020 03:17

PittTheElder: Feb 13, 2012; Yes, it's like a lava lamp.

Post and link that action?

# ? Jul 4, 2020 03:22

Glorgnole: Oct 23, 2012

it's uploading! totally unedited raw smac footage!

# ? Jul 4, 2020 03:43

Glorgnole: Oct 23, 2012

here ya go, mission year 2221 in VIDEO !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Dp5firAql8

there were only a few things that needed to be moved, so it's a kind of meandering undirected turn.

i didn't click through all the intel report screens, but i'll make sure to do that next time. i did remember to scroll across the whole map though, so if someone's been wanting to stitch together a mosaic of the current game state you can totally do that now!

# ? Jul 4, 2020 04:02

SmokaDustbowl: Feb 12, 2001; by vyelkin; Fun Shoe

Glorgnole posted:

here ya go, mission year 2221 in VIDEO !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Dp5firAql8

there were only a few things that needed to be moved, so it's a kind of meandering undirected turn.

i didn't click through all the intel report screens, but i'll make sure to do that next time. i did remember to scroll across the whole map though, so if someone's been wanting to stitch together a mosaic of the current game state you can totally do that now!

this is a huge smac game, I'm not sure any other has been played like this

# ? Jul 4, 2020 04:12

PittTheElder: Feb 13, 2012; Yes, it's like a lava lamp.

As much as I love this game I don't think I've ever watched someone play it

# ? Jul 4, 2020 04:31

Pile Of Garbage: May 28, 2007

Glorgnole posted:

already did it, soz. i recorded it for posterity, though!

lessons for me for the future:
- be better at scheduling good times w/ other people
- find more ways to make moving 3 units interesting and engaging

drat MISSED IT! next time can you post the time in UTC so that it's easier for peeps like me in west aus to tune in? :P

# ? Jul 4, 2020 08:53

Pile Of Garbage: May 28, 2007

inspired by Glorgnole i recorded my turn as Hive for MY 2220. it's about as thrilling as you'd expect :lol:

https://pileofgarbage.net/misc/yospos_smac_pbem_hive_my2220.mp4

Pile Of Garbage fucked around with this message at 09:26 on Aug 19, 2020

# ? Jul 16, 2020 10:41

Pile Of Garbage: May 28, 2007

ah crap, i've caught space-corona:

# ? Aug 19, 2020 09:26

Qtotonibudinibudet: Nov 7, 2011; Omich poluyobok, skazhi ty narkoman? ya prosto tozhe gde to tam zhivu, mogli by vmeste uyobyvat' narkotiki

Pile Of Garbage posted:

ah crap, i've caught space-corona:

Fedor Petrov, Vice Provost for University Affairs posted:

The Academician's private residences shall remain off-limits to the Genetic Inspectors. We possess no retroviral capability, we are not researching retroviral engineering, and we shall not allow this Council to violate faction privileges in the name of this ridiculous witch hunt!"

# ? Aug 19, 2020 11:37

Glorgnole: Oct 23, 2012

Pile Of Garbage posted:

ah crap, i've caught space-corona:

fortunately mask compliance is really straightforward when you can't survive outside without a rebreather!

the random events preferentially target factions that are doing well, so dubious congratulations

# ? Aug 19, 2020 21:48

Pile Of Garbage: May 28, 2007

update for anyone watching: we're still playing lol. imo we should aim to finish the game before 2060 which is when the UN Unity was launched in the game

# ? Sep 13, 2020 09:33

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# ? May 26, 2024 00:31

Powerful Two-Hander: Mar 10, 2004; Mods please change my name to "Tooter Skeleton" TIA.

send the game save in a probe to alpha centauri imho

# ? Sep 13, 2020 09:49

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > YOSPOS > sid meier's alpha centauri: when you make planetfall and the worms eat you all,

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