Believers -what do you think?

[Mart]

So what is it nowadays?

[bvanevery]

In the stock game, I don't have any problem playing the Believers.  People underestimate their value as a Builder faction.  They have a massive amount of SUPPORT which can drive a lot of Formers.  Assuming I don't start next to anybody that I can trash, I head straight for the Weather Paradigm.  I terraform like crazy, raise a land bridge to enemies, and invade.

Now in my SMACX AI Growth mod, the Believers aren't like the original Believers at all.  They don't get any SUPPORT bonus; in fact, no factions do, nor does anyone have a SUPPORT penalty.  SUPPORT I think is the most overpowered setting of the original game, and I've democratized that.  You have to make social engineering choices to get it, or build the Living Refinery, there's no other way.

I also got rid of Fundamentalist as "the choice for Probe Teams".  I've basically nerfed them, you have to get Thought Control to get higher PROBE.  The Data Angels are the only faction that start with higher PROBE now, I took the Believers' PROBE bonus away.  However the Believers do get immunity to Mind Control, to keep some of the flavor of the original game.

As of version 1.26, the Believers don't even have a RESEARCH penalty anymore.  Nor does the AI have any compulsion to play them as Fundamentalist, or anything in particular actually.  They're now the only faction in the game whose AI has complete free will!  I've removed all the dialogue that paints them as extremist or fundamentalist.  When picking a faction leader, instead of being known as "The Fundamentalist", Miriam is now known as "The Christian".  She's no longer a "Religious Freak", she's a "tiresome moralist".

The role of a complete Fundamentalist yahoo, is now taken up by Cha Dawn, leading the Cult of Planet.  In my mod they are compulsively Fundamentalist.  They are incapable of Democracy; they have no problem pursuing Wealth.

My Believers get +1 ECONOMY due to tithings.  They're the only faction with +1 now.  The Morganites get +2.  I found during AI vs. AI testing, that +1 wasn't nearly powerful enough to keep the Morganites on an equal footing with other factions.