(March 14th, 2018, 15:10)Japper007 Wrote: Do you know of any modern recapture of the SMAC majesty shallow_thought?
I tried playing SMAC but it is way to archaic for me to really get into (I'm too spoiled graphics and interface wise, grew up playing Age of Empires and Empire Earth), even though I love it's concepts. I've tried several so-called "spiritual succesors", but none of them really clicked for me. Pandora: First Contact is needlessly overcomplex in some ways (the micromanagement OMG) and extremely shallow in others (the entire game is a pure conquest rush with the occasional nod to SMAC with a quest). Beyond Earth is just an insult to the original, even I can see that and I've barely even played the original!
You might take a look at the Planetfall mod for Civ4. I don't know if it's exactly what you're looking for, it's pretty explicitly intended as a remake of SMAC with Civ4 engine and graphics, so it depends on whether you want something new or not.
We decide not to meet OT4E. We think that the longer he doesn't know we're his neighbour the longer he doesn't build a bunch of units. We do meet a bear, but should be able to avoid it by going NE-N next turn.
We've been tracking the number of cities and last turn the trigger for Barbarian warriors was, er, triggered - there are now 1.5x the number of players so they will start spawning to replace the animals. So how do we make sure they don't come get us? Well the pink area is the area that our borders can see (from next turn when we settle city 2) which I believe is spawn-busted. The orange is the extra tiles that will be busted when borders pop eot50. So we can use two warriors to bust our back lines. I'm also keen to have a sentry to the south to ensure that OT4E doesn't sneak anything up towards us.
(March 14th, 2018, 15:10)Japper007 Wrote: Do you know of any modern recapture of the SMAC majesty shallow_thought?
I tried playing SMAC but it is way to archaic for me to really get into (I'm too spoiled graphics and interface wise, grew up playing Age of Empires and Empire Earth), even though I love it's concepts. I've tried several so-called "spiritual succesors", but none of them really clicked for me. Pandora: First Contact is needlessly overcomplex in some ways (the micromanagement OMG) and extremely shallow in others (the entire game is a pure conquest rush with the occasional nod to SMAC with a quest). Beyond Earth is just an insult to the original, even I can see that and I've barely even played the original!
You might take a look at the Planetfall mod for Civ4. I don't know if it's exactly what you're looking for, it's pretty explicitly intended as a remake of SMAC with Civ4 engine and graphics, so it depends on whether you want something new or not.
I actually tried that one but it's insanely buggy and clearly unfinished and never getting any updates Rough edges in a mod I can usually look past, but that mod feels like some of the games I've tested in pre-alpha stage (NDA's in place, don't ask which )
Also look at me doing my part to help you win the thread war Shallow Old Human Tourist
Logged in to have a look, well there goes the plan of not making contact..
I forgot to check whether OT4E and William had met.
Btw, there must be something good that we don't see, otherwise I can't see why he would settle with both pigs and silver in the 2nd ring without CRE
EDIT: More spammish thoughts. The spot N of the sheep became kind of a priority there for us. It blocks the PH hill next to the deer where we definitely don't want to see a city
We should have graphs on William next turn, so we can put all our eps on OT4E instead. And now that we've met I think we should have a bit more of a look around his territory...
Lots of stuff going on this turn. First off Baldur's Gate is founded, chopping straight into a warrior to give us a semblance of a shred of defence. Next turn we'll have as many warriors as cities - we'll send two of them over to protect the settling party for the next city (eta turn 41ish). We're first to three cities while 2metraninja, Aretas, B4ndit, Boldly Going Nowhere, Donovan Zoi, Rusten, superdeath and WilliamLP are all still on one.
Looking at foreign relations OT4E and William haven't met. Perhaps the bear ate William's scout without taking a scratch? Or he just set off due east?
We have graphs on William so I switched our EPs to OT4E. At some point I'll use these to figure out how far off my C&D so far was.
(March 14th, 2018, 15:10)Japper007 Wrote: Do you know of any modern recapture of the SMAC majesty shallow_thought?
You seem to be focused on PC games, but there's an interesting android option in Uciana
Won't work on my phone.
Quick update on William - he started with Fishing and Wheel, then researched Hunting, Mining then BW (on t30). His capital hit size 4 on turn 24 when he produced his second warrior, then presumably produced a second worker and is working on a settler now. He hasn't revolted to slavery, so I presume his settler isn't on its way just yet...
Game: Baldur's Gate
Released: 1998
Played: 2008?
Personal rating: It's not you, it's me.
Baldur's Gate is a Western RPG, based in the "Forgotten Realms" setting. The gameplay is a fairly faithful rendition of the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons rules. In the grand tradition of these things, you start off as a raw apprentice and go on to save the world during the course of the game. Or possibly conquer it. Sadly, I don't know as I never finished.
Back in the mid-late noughties (ugh - but there is no better word) I had bought a "netbook" (a small, cheap, underpowered laptop) to use while travelling, both on holiday and on my daily commute. Something small enough to easily fit in a backpack or genuinely on a lap, that I could use for basic Internet access (someone's got to read those webcomics) and some simpler - or older - games. Sadly, Alpha Centauri was too much for the graphics chip, so I looked around for cheap but good games to play on it that didn't need serious performance. I ended up trying Master of Orion and Battle for Wesnoth, both of which I ended up playing quite a lot - still do. I also got Baldur's Gate (I may even have the sequel lying around somewhere). I'm into fantasy, was loving the JRPGs on the Playstation, and it is widely agreed to be a classic, so why not?
My usual plan with RPGs is to do one quick, dirty playthough - at "low" difficulty if available - to inhale the story at pace. Then, settle down with a walkthrough on hand to really get to grips with the mechanics and do a completist run. This has worked well for me, but comes unstuck in two cases. First, if the story is no damn good. We may come to that later. Second, if the game is hard enough to actually require attention.
I didn't really get involved with AD&D when I was young. Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay was our main thing at school, with some fun dips into Shadowrun and Paranoia. It turns out that these are fast-moving, streamlined members of the RPG family. AD&D ... not so much (although there are worse - Rolemaster anybody?). I have a sneaking suspicion that most groups of teenage schoolboys who played it quietly decided, as a group, to ignore some of the rules to make it easier (I wouldn't know about serious, adult players). As a computer game, you can't do that. You will have to worry about encumbrance, you will have to go around picking up your (hopefully) unbroken arrows from the corpses of your slain enemies. Add in the scale of the world, the number of characters and the range of choices available and it was just too much effort for me at the time. I did restart from the beginning with the aid of a walkthrough, but didn't get much further.
The game deserved a lot better than to be tried in half-hour bursts, with even those interupted by boarding and switching trains. I rather liked the story - as far as I got - and enjoyed the setting. Even with my dips into the game some of the characters were memorable ("Go for the eyes, Boo!"). Yet somehow I've never felt the urge to give it another go, or try the remake. I do think, however, that there have been games that I've loved that owe a lot to Baldur's Gate and its success.
It may have looked easy, but that is because it was done correctly - Brian Moore
Fintourist saved me the bother of moving any units this turn. So I'll just post a couple of pics. First, with OT4E's warrior (who isn't fortified, so I'm not sure what the sign means) and all the animals, our scout is finding things a bit busy down here. I think we'll skip the bear and lion infested area and skirt around to the east of the mountains before heading north. I assume we want to find William asap, but just carrying on east might get us another contact? Anyway the scout will probably just move one tile SE next turn, as there isn't much safe terrain any more.
It was pointed out to me that this move should be safe enough, and so it proved. That marble makes me think that William is to the north and someone else is to the south somewhere nearby... NE-N next turn? EP spending makes me think that William revolted to BW last turn, so expect a new city this turn or next.
Back home our third worker is born and moved to chop, along with worker #2. Alpha Centauri grew to 2 and gave the corn back to Civ which will grow in 3 turns for another settler whip. The warrior moved to a forest and will have 96% odds to defeat the lion when the turn rolls. A shame to lose the fog-busting lion, but we need to start staking out this land for that next settler.
Rough edges in a mod I can usually look past, but that mod feels like some of the games I've tested in pre-alpha stage (NDA's in place, don't ask which 
)
Won't work on my phone. 
