Credit goes to ExCx for this one.
So there was a
thread in the Command Nexus forum where a match was proposed on a small map with a few house rules - you know, banning overpowered projects, limiting some of the less balanced units, the usual. However, there was one rule that stood out:
-5 bases max
The idea was quickly discarded because it was pointed out how it imbalances gameplay with all the different faction bonuses and styles, but it got me thinking. Can it be made to work?
Everyone who played SMAX multi extensively knows that 5 bases are way, WAY too few for a normal gameplay. There is not enough SUPPORT to go around, the research stagnates quickly, and you either have to place your bases near each other (and suffer from overlapping territory), or make peace with being slow to respond to unexpected threats to individual bases. It has much more in common with One City Challenges than with the way the game is supposed to be played.
But it also presents some very interesting questions that you do not see often, especially with Crawlers disabled. Where do you place your bases - do you spread them out to maximize the benefits from covering most territory, or do you cluster them around resource bonuses to get a good headstart? Do you build any bases on a shore (detracting from an overall quality of the base as ocean terraforming is very lackluster), or do you only develop inland, risking a possible invasion from a more maritime-inclined opponent? More bases on the shore would make for a more powerful fleet, but if it fails, you will fall behind rather quickly. Finally, Secret Projects have to be re-evaluated - The Merchant's Exchange gets actually useful for once, while things like The Command Nexus experience a drop in their importance. Yeah, you get a free ComCenter in 5 bases for 200 minerals, so what? You could have built them normally, y'know.
So I contacted a fellow enthusiast, and we designed a challenge between the two of us. We would play on a custom map, designed specifically with a duel in mind, starting on two islands on the different sides of the map, and - since this requires quite a bit of planning - having our respective islands revealed. All AIs would be purged off the map.
The house rules are as follows:
- No player can build more than 5 bases at any given time, unless they conquered a base from another player.
- Captured bases can not be obliterated.
- Cloudbase Academy is banned (might have been excessive, it just carried over from our last game)
- Planetary Transit System is banned (that's definitely excessive, we could have allowed it since the base number is limited)
- Supply Crawlers are banned.
- You can only use weapons if their power does not exceed the value of your most powerful researched armor *2.
- Copters have to be equipped with <SAM> special abilities.
All other rules about exploits apply, i.e. self-destruct is banned, all game-relevant information should be provided to all players, no double-terraforming in the same turn etc.
We'll probably be adding to this list as we go, it's a new experience for us so we have no idea what should or shouldn't be allowed. We'll probably end up banning PlanetBusters, for example, but it isn't a concern for now.
To minimize the disparity between factions, we ended up with the following system. First, Player 1 designs pairings that he thinks would be equal in terms of power. Next, Player 2 would decide whom he wants to play in each of those pairings. Finally, Player 1 chooses the pairing he wants, while taking the remaining faction.
Several pairings were formed by me: Peacekeepers/Believers, Gaians/University, Sparta/Hive, Drones/Believers, Usurpers/Cyborgs and Angels/Morganites. Auriga picked the factions he wanted to play, PeaceKeepers among them, and I chose the Peacekeepers/Believers pair.
And so, the battle has begun!
- Auriga
- Nevill
Small map, Tech Stagnation OFF, Blind Research OFF.
New SMAC quizzes available.
