Little Game for the 2019 Summer

[Mart]

After reading recently about SMACX games on small maps, I decided to try something like that, and here it goes:


Little Game for the 2019 Summer!


Explaining 'little': the map is 16x24 tiles, when it was build from in-game editor. It is not the smallest one possible, since the game can create only 16x16, yet I felt it was somewhat too small. So I decided to make this 16 by 24 tiles.


I placed rather larger number of Natural Landmarks, and shaped continents/islands in the way, that the game engine is capable of starting all original 7 factions consistently, as I checked. Yet not always, as it seems. And this map actually recently started with 6 factions, but I added missing one.
So here it comes, 7 factions on a 16 by 24 tiles map.

Present Landmarks from standard 16, are 12. There are missing these larger ones: Pholus Ridge, Nessus Canyon, UNS Unity Wreckage and Sunny Messa.
But I feel, it would be possible still to place more than 12, I will later try this too.
Well, Geothermal, Jungle, Uranium, Sargasso are not placed by the game, but tiles are added manually.


Anyway, the Challenge would be:
Win by Transcendence in smallest possible number of turns, while keeping in the game all 7 factions during victory turn.
I write this "during victory turn", so it would be ok, if by probe team action you free a captured faction leader, if that happens, which on the map of this size seems very likely.


It is SMAX game. Expansion!
Can be played by vanila game or scient patch or any other, that does not modify alphax.txt file.


Enjoy!!!

[Mart]

Notes, that I think, I might add:


- This is very small map, although somewhat larger than minimal allowed by the game. It has 7 factions though in it, so contact with other factions, even all of them is very fast. Be ready, that AI may start military actions sooner, the distances are small.
- AI plays decently, large part of the map is covered with landmarks, so it has easier building.
- Native life is abundant, and from my games I already tried, it shows.
- Playing as Gaians, the initial technology cost is 4 lab points. However, after fast initial contact, and if you accept many technology exchanges, you may get this cost increased to 59 lab points quickly. It is somewhere between 15-20% of discovered techs. And this does not feel like a small quick map any more.

[DrazharLn]

I really like the idea of this

I played a few turns while I was testing some stuff earlier and I'm going to try playing it 'for real' with Thinker this week!

Probably I'll get stomped, but I'll have some fun   

[Mart]

I will enclose the next info in spoiler tags. It is like AAR, and some would prefer to try the game without spoilers.

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- With 7 factions, map fills up quickly. AI do not have many bases, so SPs are not chosen often for build items. I think the first AI attempt was started Weather Paradigm in 2164. I got Merchant Exchange already.
- The same applies for human player, I have only 5 bases and no room for more land expansion, but this is no ICS, what I play now. And there is this feeling of slow development. Actually nice thing, with not many bases micromanagement is very small and there is no that rush feeling when playing larger maps.
- Less possibilities for rising land, it affects map much more, every map bonus is more valuable, since there is fewer of them, and also, rising land is going to Pangaea, bad for defenses.

[Mart]

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2182, finally got Empath Guild, just wanted infiltration ASAP.

Spartans having only 2 bases have 6 unknown to me techs, including DAP and one Chaos penetrator flying! I neglected research for some time to get good energy, and this is now the result.
Running Wealth, Santiago is in vendetta for longer time now. Having total 4 vendettas now.

[Buster's Uncle]

 

...Making a bit of art for the Facebook posting...

[Mart]

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Playing casually, the map is small, yet still in late game when winning, I have 23 bases. No ICS, cause someone with ICS would fit many more bases.
Facilities are not that good, since for many turns I had to deal with AI. They all have 1 base, and still can after some turns produce several units and threaten Gaians.


- Interesting is, that when keeping all factions in play, during Council voting for those options, where there is YEA or NAY, my faction being vastly superior has little to say. So the AI voted melting polar caps, and that screwed up the map completely. I spent some decades building many formers to raise land. Lost some boreholes and mines.


- Year 2338, techs are 85%, cost is 1380 per tech and I can make a tech in 3 turns. If I had better fcilities, terrain and sats, I think I would be easily with 1 tech per turn.