SMACX AI Growth mod

[bvanevery]

Hello, new forum user here.  I followed induktio here.  He's not the only one working on major SMAC mods, but my approach is different / more traditional.  Just changing alphax.txt and the faction.txt files.  You can do a lot with that.  Since you have some active SMAC players, thought y'all should know.

SMACX AI Growth mod
Copyright 2018 by Brandon Van Every
Version 1.15, July 30, 2018



The design of this mod, and all the playtesting needed to improve it, have taken 3 PERSON MONTHS of full time work to produce.  In some other universe where I made money, this could have been a quarter of a year's salary.  Some people release complete, if trivial, commercial games in that kind of timeframe.  Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri is a decidedly non-trivial game, one whose complexities have kept me occupied for nearly 20 years.  So it takes much longer to mod it, in any substantive way.  I am at times amazed, when various game developers do "game jams" and claim to produce quality in a short amount of time.  It has never happened with any mod I've worked on.  Perhaps changing the rules of wargames, simply invites time to disappear. 

This mod aspires to professionalism, to be substantially better than the original game.  I hope people will try and enjoy it, as that validates the effort spent.  Please let me know if you find any bugs or omissions.

INSTALLATION

- Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri with Alien Crossfire expansion is required.
- This mod is for the OFFICIAL game.  Unofficial patches that change the alphax.txt file, like the Yitzi 3.5d patch, will not work!
- I suggest installing the OFFICIAL game in a custom directory using custom installation options, and then this mod.
- You can have many installations of SMAC on your computer.  They're small and won't interfere with each other.
- This mod contains alphax.txt, the 14 faction *.txt files, and this readme_mod.txt
- Drop the files on top of your SMAC installation, overwriting the existing files.

DESIGN SUMMARY

- I've tried to make the AI play better.  That's really important.
- The AI uses Foil Probe Teams now.  Watch your sea bases!
- Factions are better rounded, and most don't have penalties.  This helps the AI.
- Aliens are no longer overpowered.  They are no better than normal factions.
- The world generator is tweaked to give the AI factions more land to grow in.
- Enormous 80x160 and Giant 128x256 maps are defined.
- Choosing 30%..50% land mass yields substantial continents, but still plenty of ocean for the Pirates.
- I test gameplay on an Enormous map with 30%..50% land mass.  That's my benchmark for "correct experience".
- Techs, facilities, units, and abilities are completely reordered, for what I consider to be good pacing.
- Secret Projects come later in the game and cost at least 300 minerals.
- Overpowered Secret Projects come MUCH later.
- Social Engineering choices are gradualist and incremental, to facilitate mixing and matching.
- Future Society choices become available in late midgame and are not overpowered.
- Completing the entire tech tree is required to Transcend.
- Facilities, abilities, and units are assigned to Explore, Discover, Build, or Conquer according to what they actually do.
- "Explore" really means "colonization and growth" to the AI.  It doesn't mean exploring.
- Planet Busters can hit anywhere on Planet.
- Armor has been strengthened to match weapons at the same tech level.

DESIGN DETAILS

[etc.]  Go to my mod's homepage to get it, or to read more about it.  I'm happy to answer questions here too if you have any.

[HansLemurson]

I read through your thread last night. It's really interesting to watch your process of refinement and reflection.

A poorly performing AI is the main thing that "breaks the immersion" for me when I've played Alpha Centauri.

Am I correct in understanding that you have made no changes to the AI itself, just altering the environment in which it plays?

[bvanevery]

If you read the whole development thread, that's pretty patient of you!  16 releases, player feedback...

Yes, there is no alteration to the AI at all.  That would take binary patching, which is currently beyond my level of energy, if not skill.  Induktio is working on actual binary patching, actual changes to AI code.  Some of his approaches to change are interesting; I hope he "does the right thing" about compatibility with other mods like mine.

I have changed how factions prioritize their AI decisions.  They have different "Personalities".  They focus on different areas of research.  I have vastly changed the "racetrack" that the AIs are running on, the techs.  I have reworked all the social engineering choices, and made sure the AIs have more flexibility to choose different social strategies.  So Yang for instance, could choose a Free Market Police State.  It's not a crazy thing to do now, it's actually a pretty good thing to do.  Can't remember if he's actually done it.  He could be modern China, not just Maoist China.

Generally speaking, all of the factions are capable of more interesting and better rounded choices.  Basically the way this is implemented, is I removed the things in alphax.txt which said, "the Cult of Planet has to pursue PLANET bonuses".  They've already got lots of PLANET, they don't need to be forced to do more.  Let the AI decide if it wants to max PLANET to +3, or do something else.  My experience is that in many ways, greater than +1 PLANET isn't even valuable.  I've gotten massive numbers of mindworms with only +1 PLANET.

[bvanevery]

I released version 1.16 and forgot to post about it here, 'cuz I'm a spring chicken in this forum!  Only thing in it: I changed the Cybernetic Consciousness from Aggressive to Passive.  Why?  Because they nuked me, unprovoked!  I can't have 'em going all Santiago or Miriam on my ass.  More to the point, I don't think it's a good strategy for them.  They were way ahead on tech.  They should just sit back, get even more tech, and not ruin the trade relations that are partly funding the tech.  Instead they commit a major atrocity that has very little tactical advantage, although they did blow up my Hunter-Seeker Algorithm.  Anyways, in 1.16 they're back to being kinder, gentler Cyborgs.

I released 1.17 just 2 days ago.  Mindworms and other PSI units are cheapened.  Gaians get a 20% PSI combat bonus.  Cyborgs no longer have IMPUNITY to Cybernetic social engineering choice; they had too many advantages.  Cult of Planet no longer gets free Brood Pit; they had too many advantages.  Sensor Arrays can be built on water.  Unity Mining Laser is now a 4-1-1 Particle Impactor unit.

[superjm]

If Induktio is doing binary patching does that mean he can modernize the UI any?

Really, the wonky UI is the primary reason I haven't been able to get into SMAC despite falling in love with its mechanics and lore.

[bvanevery]

He would have to speak for himself, I can't speak for him. My logical guess is he WON'T do UI stuff, as that sounds like a pretty labor intensive undertaking. It's not like patching stuff with ASM code is particularly easy, or one has sources to just up and change everything.

The binary patch that DID do a lot of stuff with 'graphics' is the PRACX patch, but I don't remember what kinds of changes were made. I don't personally use it. You'd want to look that up and see if it has any relevance to you.

I'm curious what you think "modernizing" would mean, and what "wonky" means.

[bvanevery]

I have released version 1.18. Took Democratic ECONOMY bonus out of the game because it made it really easy for Morgan to corner the energy market. He only paid 1000 credits and almost won, mid-game! A few other minor bugfix and convenience changes.

[bvanevery]

I have released version 1.19. A surprising number of changes were precipitated by playtester Vidsek. Rec Commons and Hab Complex become cheaper. Data Angels no longer need to infiltrate to get free techs from other factions. Cyborgs and Caretakers become Erratic so they will fight better. Fungus edibility and energy is now like the unmodded game. Some Secret Project costs go up, a few go down. Research focus continuity in the tech tree is smoothed out.

[bvanevery]

I have released version 1.20. University gets free Biology Labs. Believers, Hive, and University add Explore research focus, which helps early game expansion. Cybernetic Consciousness adds Conquer focus. Gaians go Explore only because their mindworms are tough now. Spartans go Conquer only. Free Drones, Peacekeepers, and Pirates become Passive, as they are better off building larger cities than fighting wars.

[LKendter]

Does this work with base SMAC, or is it for alien crossfire?