Posted August 10, 2015
I LOVE SMAC. I've beaten the game at Transcend level. For each faction. Twice.
(By the way for all factions other than the Believers that relies on me getting a large amount of unoccupied land at the start of the game ideally with no or friendly neighbours until I get air power. Once I get to air power with a moderately sized colony I usually win. Usually. The AI doesn't use air power as effectively as it could)
What I loved about the game was the subtlety of the depictions of the characters. None is a pantomime villain. Colonel Santiago gets the worst press but in real life I'd choose her of all the faction leaders.
My opinions of the other faction leaders is heavily coloured by playing against them at the highest level for a long time.
Sister Miriam is a nightmare. At transcend level I'll usually restart if we have a long mutual border because she is the most warlike and unless placated you'll have dozens of orange units flooding across your borders from the opening of the game. By the time I get my first satellite up she's inevitably infected the planet like measles - orange dots everywhere. She's also the most likely faction leader to weigh in with Planetbusters, even with the prohibitions up.
Colonel Santiago senses weakness like a bloodhound. She's the only opponent who has demanded a technology from me then two more on me capitulating. Even the game has a word rhyming with twitch in the response options at that point. I'd never trust her but she's not nearly as psychopathically aggressive as Miriam.
Yang's a thug. You're always going to eventually go to war with him if you start to get into the lead but conversely he's less aggressive if you are weaker.
Zhakarov rarely fares middlingly well. He's either very strong or dog meat. He can be uncooperative and dismissive but rarely aggressive. He's the one faction where getting high tech scores wins admiration rather than a declaration of war.
Lal is more unpredictable. You can have a long time with him as a peaceful neighbour but occasionally he will become aggressive and attack.
Deirdre is similar to Lal but more aggressive. She shouldn't be. For some reason everyone thinks that Deirdre is the toughest cat in the courtyard but it ain't so Joe. Remember that human controlled native life forms go down to half strength as soon as troops get the fusion reactor. The native life forms advantage relies on them being captured by your independent unit (otherwise they impede production as they count as city bought troops) and conveniently located fungus from which to launch attacks and hide and recover. The Gaians' very poor human morale score makes them losers in most wars.
And to Morgan. I like Morgan. He almost never initiates combat he almost always wants to be friends and he rarely is a threat. Ideally you want him as your neighbour so when Miriam, Santiago, or Yang go marching through his cities you can guiltlessly add them to your empire in "self defence". Leave him alone for too long however and he builds every Secret Project going making him impregnable.
S.x.
(By the way for all factions other than the Believers that relies on me getting a large amount of unoccupied land at the start of the game ideally with no or friendly neighbours until I get air power. Once I get to air power with a moderately sized colony I usually win. Usually. The AI doesn't use air power as effectively as it could)
What I loved about the game was the subtlety of the depictions of the characters. None is a pantomime villain. Colonel Santiago gets the worst press but in real life I'd choose her of all the faction leaders.
My opinions of the other faction leaders is heavily coloured by playing against them at the highest level for a long time.
Sister Miriam is a nightmare. At transcend level I'll usually restart if we have a long mutual border because she is the most warlike and unless placated you'll have dozens of orange units flooding across your borders from the opening of the game. By the time I get my first satellite up she's inevitably infected the planet like measles - orange dots everywhere. She's also the most likely faction leader to weigh in with Planetbusters, even with the prohibitions up.
Colonel Santiago senses weakness like a bloodhound. She's the only opponent who has demanded a technology from me then two more on me capitulating. Even the game has a word rhyming with twitch in the response options at that point. I'd never trust her but she's not nearly as psychopathically aggressive as Miriam.
Yang's a thug. You're always going to eventually go to war with him if you start to get into the lead but conversely he's less aggressive if you are weaker.
Zhakarov rarely fares middlingly well. He's either very strong or dog meat. He can be uncooperative and dismissive but rarely aggressive. He's the one faction where getting high tech scores wins admiration rather than a declaration of war.
Lal is more unpredictable. You can have a long time with him as a peaceful neighbour but occasionally he will become aggressive and attack.
Deirdre is similar to Lal but more aggressive. She shouldn't be. For some reason everyone thinks that Deirdre is the toughest cat in the courtyard but it ain't so Joe. Remember that human controlled native life forms go down to half strength as soon as troops get the fusion reactor. The native life forms advantage relies on them being captured by your independent unit (otherwise they impede production as they count as city bought troops) and conveniently located fungus from which to launch attacks and hide and recover. The Gaians' very poor human morale score makes them losers in most wars.
And to Morgan. I like Morgan. He almost never initiates combat he almost always wants to be friends and he rarely is a threat. Ideally you want him as your neighbour so when Miriam, Santiago, or Yang go marching through his cities you can guiltlessly add them to your empire in "self defence". Leave him alone for too long however and he builds every Secret Project going making him impregnable.
S.x.
