Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

[gojira]

This is a thread for noodling around with various SMAC topics. I've got a game going right now that's at total blow-out, so I'm experimenting with some off-the-wall tactics. I'm not going to post any RPG material yet, but I'd like to at some point.

 

 

1. You can't air drop formers into enemy territory. No non-combat units can be air-dropped into enemy territory or cities. You can equip formers with drop pods, and you can drop them in your own territory. This is handy for terriforming small islands and such with out having to use a transport.

 

2. Speaking of transports, both Needlejets and Rotors can accept a cargo transport module. You can only transport one unit via air, but it does work.

 

3. Gravships are great. Equip formers with gravship chasis and they can terriform both land and sea.

[David Johnston]

Re: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

 

Well, along as you're talking SMAC:

 

You can drop formers and colonists into uncontrolled territory as well. But me, I'm into jumpcrawlers with passenger modules.

[Lethosos]

Re: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

 

I'll have to try the GravFormer, sometime. The problem with gravship chassis is that it takes a great deal of research just to have it availiable!

 

In any case... perhaps one should start out by giving overall faction ads/disads? I suspect it's a 1 to 2 deal, and I might contribute here and there...

[gojira]

Re: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

 

I see two ways a SMAC campaign could be run.

 

One is to pick a time period/tech level, make characters who are citizens or specialists from one or more faction, and basically RP a future society.

 

The other would be to play powerful leaders in SMAC, and take control of an entire faction, or a large portion of one. When I was playing DnD in high school, we got bored with trying to level up characters, and just gave ourselves name-level characters with all the henchmen and hirelings and set out to rule the world. It was pretty good fun.

 

Either way, I think I'd start by mapping out a time line of major events. Where does each faction start? How well do they do? What important events, technologies, wars have a major influence on the history? Stuff like that...

[Lethosos]

Re: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

 

A good point of reference would be the novels--the storylines behind them certainly came to a very different ending than I orignally thought of, but it gives you an idea behind the sweeping effects that each faction has on its followers, and the reference of technology in each one of them. (All three took place at different points in time.)

 

In fact, it would be interesting to have those PCs break off from their respective societies and create a new home out in the harsh, unforgiving Chiron landscape, effectively creating their own faction.

[gojira]

Re: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

 

That's a good idea. I totally forgot about the novels.

 

Another idea of mine would be to draw on other sources besides the canon. Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars books would be a excellent source of inspiration.

[Lethosos]

Re: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

 

While I've only read Red & Green Mars, it's not a bad comparison. (Although the immortality aspect was a little early for my tastes.)

 

Hrmm... thinking about the faction "personality," I'd suggest drawing paralells with the Master List of Disadvantages (under Social/Psychological,) and take it down one step, to reflect the usual "fringe" that occasionaly runs slightly counter with the sociatal mores.

 

I love college-level sociology.

[gojira]

Re: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

 

I flipped through my SMAC manual, they actually list some suggested reading in the back, and the Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson is there.

 

They also list:

 

The Jesus Incident, and Dune by Frank Herbert.

 

A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge.

 

Anvil of the Stars, and Slant by Greg Bear.

 

The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.

 

The Real Story by Stephen R. Donaldson

 

 

Non fiction, they list:

 

Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan and Ann Godoff.

 

Alpha Centauri, The Nearest Star by Issac Asimov.

[gojira]

Re: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

 

Since I don't want to post copyrighted material, I redrew the map of Chiron (the planet they land on). Can you tell I drew it myself?

 

Anyway, we want to refer to the map, this'll help everyone with points of reference.

 

(No laughing, please )

[gojira]

Re: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

 

I found a decent explaination of the SMAC map format:

 

http://meepo.dnsalias.org/misc/SMAC-MP.txt

[David Johnston]

Re: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

 

Essentially being a loyal member of a faction would be a psychological limitation in and of itself. The tricky thing be how to handle the effects of social value choices, especially when they change. Switch from Wealth to Power and in fairly short order being a Member of the base military becomes a heck of a lot more valuable.

[gojira]

Re: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

 

Hmm, yes I was thinking about this.

 

I could see, for example, faction packages that each player would be required to take. Packages for specaialsts such as doctor, technician, thinker, etc. could exist.

 

Or players could have complete freedom to ignore the packages and choose own characters, but would be required to take a social disad "Disloyal Faction Memember", possibly at -0 points, which would have some built-in restrictions. The player's choice of profession, wealth, patron and perks would probably be limited as a result.

 

Or players could be drones. Being a drone would replace the disloyal soc disad with a drone package of disads, but would restrict the character in other ways.

 

 

For the social value (and other) choices, remember that each turn is one year, so these changes actually happen relatively slowly. Plus there are extra losses to research and economy that result from the upheaval during a change over. Some social unrest is assumed.

 

For high ranking faction members, they probably have a strong incentive to follow whatever The Leader decides. "Oceania was not after all at war with Eurasia. Oceania was at war with Eastasia. Eurasia was an ally.... at once, that Eastasia and not Eurasia was the enemy. " For lower members of the faction, they probably have little choice what to follow.

 

Hmm, I think I'll name the example NPC "Winston."

[gojira]

Re: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

 

Regarding the change in power thing, remember that a switch from Wealth to Power usually indicates a change to a war footing. Members of the military will get an increase in prestige or influence, which might be balanced by an increase in responsibility or danger.

[Lethosos]

Re: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

 

At this time, I think it's not a bad idea to see what a "faction package deal" would resemble. My suggestion would be to build the faction ads/disads at its mildest forms; this is what you could call "basic dogma from childhood." Let the player decide how irrational they are from the social norms, and take the ads/disads further.

 

Also, if a player chooses a centralist "core" type--drones, netrunners, scientists, merchants, diplomats, and soldiers, for starts--they get a reputation ad/disad depending on the faction. (Such as Spartans looking up to their soldiers.)

[gojira]

Re: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

 

Here are some notes to myself on the basic specialist types. I think these may be a good place to start for potential player characters.

 

BTW, I don't feel terribly creative right, now, I'm just trying to keep the ball rolling. If anyone has any ideas or sees a way to improve things, feel free to pop up and say so. I'm not set on anything yet.

 

Specialists

Doctor

Technician

Librarian - new early mid-game specialist

Empath - upgraded Doctor

Engineer - upgraded Technician

Thinker - upgraded Librarian

Transcend - upgraded Thinker, late game

 

Specialists, talents, workers and drones are all citizens. Talents are highly skilled people who contribute greatly to a faction society. Workers are normal people who perform most of the tasks in a faction. Drones are disgruntled wokers; when a base's drones become too numerous riots ensue.

 

 

I'm not sure why a space faring people land with no engineers or librarians. However, the hard life of just surviving on Chiron may make a kind of dark age. Engineers would be present, but not really in great numbers, and little time and resources would be availble for extended training. This might result in a kind of Warhammer 40k-esque world, which might be interesting to role play.

 

Librarians come fairly early. They are enabled by Planetary Networks, a D2 technology. (See below for notes about technologies.) Planetary Networks also enables things like Probe Teams, Hologram Theatures, so it might be better to call Librarians Netrunners and Probe Team Members.

 

(Hologram Theatures? Hmm, I'm feeling a ShadowBeat vibe here...)

 

Note that true cybernetics probably doesn't happen until Neural Grafting (C4) and Mind-Machine Interface (C6).

 

Empaths are enabled by Centauri Meditation (E5). They appear to be powerful, well trained psychics who appear well after the basics of controlling Mind Worms are discovered (E3).

 

Engineers are enabled by Fusion Power, which is D6 and therefore pretty well into the middle game. Fusion Power requires Pre-Sentient Algorithms, Advanced Military Algorithms and Cyberethics, so they're really some kind of hopped-up super researcher. We should probably drop the Technician/Engineer terminology and come up with something else. I'm drawing a blank as to what.

 

Thinkers turn up about the same time as "Engineers." They are enabled by Mind-Machine Interface (C6) and are depicted as true head-in-a-jar types. They are obviously heavily cybered. This might make for some kind of interesting Rigger type.

 

Note to self: with all the Shadowrun terms poping up, it probably makes sense to go ahead and add some other Shadowrun type archetypes. Cybered warriors, corp types (esp. Morgan), underworld types (a use for Drones?), etc.

 

Transcends show up when you discover the Secrets of Alpha Centauri, and as such are bascially off the scale. The technology in the game by that point reflects concepts in Kim Stanley Robinson's third Mars book, Blue Mars, which is to say it's pretty bizare. I'm not sure if anyone would want to role play that. Some might.

[gojira]

Re: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

 

SMAC Technology Basics

 

For those who aren't familiar with the game, here's a quick run through of the technology.

 

Technology advances play a major part in the game. Tech wins the game, hands down. The game divides the technology into four groups: Explore, Build, Discover and Conquer.

 

Within each group, technology is divided into levels, mostly for player convienence. The first Conquer technology (which happens to be Applied Physics) is labeled C1. The first Build technology is B1. Etc.

 

All technologies have prerequisites, and they don't follow linearly in each group. You can't for example discover Applied Physics C1, then immediately progress to High Energy Chemistry, which is C2. The prerequisites are determined by the designers to be more complex and make the game more interesting. Higher Energy Chemistry also requires Industrial Base B1, for example.

 

It is possible to discover technologies out of order. For example it is possible to aquire Organic Superlubricant C7 before Superstring Theory C5. Most of the time however lower numbered technologies have to be discovered before higher number ones.

 

There are also more than one technology on each level. There are three C2 technologies, for example, Nonlinear Mathmatics, High Energy Chemistry and Doctrine: Loyalty.

 

Occasionaly, there are no technologies in a group for a given level. There are no Conquer technologies between 10 and 14, for example. This is just the way the designers made the game, what they felt made sense. I don't think there's some huge over reaching philosophy of what tech goes where.

 

The tech levels go from 1 to 15. After discovering all technologies, further research produces "Transendent Thoughts," which don't actually do anything, but add quite a bit to your game score for each one you get.

[gojira]

Re: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

 

Factions

 

Believers, The Fundamentalists

The Believer faction are religious fanatics. They are opposed to science and research (which seems a little trite), but make tough warriors. The seem diametrically opposed to the University faction.

 

Their priorities are to expand and claim as much land as possible, and then to conquer and subjugate their opposition. They less than average environmental practices and notably less than average research.

 

They promote Conclave Oral Law to further their beliefs. They are described as pious, fanatic, devout, embracing the Lord's scripture, having a life of worship, upholding standards of decency and morality. Their supreme military force is called the Angels of Justice. They are denigrated as bible thumping, religious freaks, having an extremist moral code, having bizarre religious practices.

 

Gaians, The Environmentalists

 

The Gaian faction are environmentalists and ecologists. They seek to understand and safe-guard the natural habitat of Chiron. As such, the get bonuses when dealing with native life forms, and are very efficient (it's fun to recycle!). The are pacifists and make poor warriors, and libertarian attitudes mean drones are more likely to riot at their bases.

 

The Gaians seem diametrically opposed to Morgan, the Industrialist. However both the Gaians and the Morganites are pacifists.

 

They are describe as ecologically sensitive, preserving and cataloguing the planet's natural life, guard understand and preserve the planet's native life. Their armed forces are termed the Environmental Police. They are denigrated by terming them tree-crazy, nature-loony, dancing naked through the trees, having pagan rituals, stamping out all legitimate human development, opposing human progress.

 

Hive

The Hive is a faction which engages in social experiments. They are the quickest to adopt technology that others might see as dehumanizing. The Hive has a reputation for oppressing it's own people and engaging in brutal serfdom.

 

The Hive is aggressive militarily although they are only average warriors. High growth rate due to forced breeding and faster material production rates due to abusive worker treatment make them formidable however. Their oppressive society tends to have trouble both economically and scientifically. They tend to build their bases underground, which means all of their bases count as hardened bunkers when attacked.

 

They are described as having a society based on security and control, having social experiments. Their armed forces are termed Hive Security and they follow what they call Hive Law. They are denigrated by being termed ruthless, cruel, reducing their people to mindless slaves, having diabolical schemes, preaching brutal nihilism, and torturing their followers.

 

 

Edit: cleaned up spelling.

[David Johnston]

Re: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

 

Ahem. "Gaians". Also the Believer's religious practices aren't nearly so bizarre as those of the Cult. Pretty familiar for the most part.

 

Heres some self-made factions I've toyed with:

 

The Matriarchs:

A faction which believes men are primarily responsible for screwing up Earth and therefore must be barred from positions of authority and "masculine" behaviours like militarism and competitiveness must be eschewed. They don't get along well with the Spartans or the Morgans. High growth rate thanks to advanced reproductive technologies, sexual selection for female offspring, and a collective "it takes a village" approach to child rearing (universal daycare).

 

The Terraformers: A faction which regards the native life as an enemy to be eradicated or enslaved and are extremely good at that. Hostile to the Gaians and the Cult of Planet.

 

The Harmons: A faction dedicated to the creation of social harmony by means of subtle psychic manipulation. They claim to educate everyone in how to develop their psychic potential but the exercises they teach to most are actually designed to make their minds easier to monitor and control.

 

Earthforce: The remaining humanity of Earth, and the solar system after the catastrophe which the Unity fled managed to unite and the new government has sent a second ship to take control of the rest of humanity and make sure they never pose a threat to Earth. They have the advantage of arriving with more advanced technologies, but the psi powers and progenitor technology of Planet are a mystery to them.

[Lethosos]

Re: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

 

I think that, once I get back from the weekend, I may be able to devote some time into expanding this.

[gojira]

Re: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

 

Ahem. "Gaians". Also the Believer's religious practices aren't nearly so bizarre as those of the Cult.

 

It was late and I was tired when I posted that last one. I see several spelling mistakes, I'll go back and correct them.

 

The descriptions in the last paragraph of each faction I pulled directly from the configuration files from the game. That's the text that the game itself uses to describe each faction (usually in the context of one faction is angry and using harsh language to describe the other).

 

Thanks for the additions! I'll add some more also later.

[Lethosos]

Re: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

 

I think I should take the time and write out the faction info for the major factions soon... this could get complicated, if we went by yours. (After all, I did read the triliogy, so I have a firmer grasp on the sociologcal precepts of each. )

[gojira]

Re: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

 

That's fine. I don't see this as a "me only" project. I encourage others to present their own material, even if it contradicts mine.

 

Feel free to post the factions one at a time. If I can get a sense of where you are headed I might be able to help.

 

(I've got temporarily distracted with a side project for SMAC. )