SMAX - The Will to Power - mod

[bvanevery]

I'm not really sure how Github works. Do I need an account for that?

Not to download a release, inspect a repository, or clone a repository.  But if you want to file an Issue in a repo's Issue Tracker, I think you need an account for that.

Details donational waste

donational waste

Before my allies give me ~20 planes, it would be nice if they actually checked whether I can support 20 planes.  Disband after disband after disband.   I got to keep one plane.

Next turn they threw away about 6 more.

Next turn they threw away another 10.   Make it stop.

[Alpha Centauri Bear]

Thank you for your reply. I'm not really sure how Github works. Do I need an account for that?

Try to get there to see if you have read access. You should.
https://github.com/tnevolin/thinker-doer

Then open this.
https://github.com/tnevolin/thinker-doer/blob/master/docs/configuration/helpx.txt

And see if you have pencil icon on top of the text. If yes - click it, edit, commit changes. Otherwise, you may need an account so I give you edit permission.

However, if you didn't deal with Git before - don't bother. It'll be some learning curve. I just meant you are free to edit it if you are up to it.

[Alpha Centauri Bear]

I like the idea of how Hab Complexes work. Does it mean it rewards the player for building them earlier for some extra growth? In vanilla SMAC I always found building them a bit of a burden but here you actually get an incentive for it.

Correct. If one builds it in base size 1 they get +3 GROWTH for this base right away. Nice bonus but could be costly for small bases.

The description of the Covert Ops Center doesn't state what kind of bonuses it gives. (It only describes what the building is)

I don't think I have changed anything from vanilla description. A lot of vanilla descriptions are pretty general and suck. Feel free to supply new content for it if you are up to it. It is an open project.

EDIT: The new description for Hab Complex looks good. (Although I can't tell from which population size the bonus or penalty kick in)

If you open in game help and click interchangeably between hab complex and hab complex - you'll see their description is identical except bold bright number on third line for default population limit. If it is not too noticeable we may move it to separate first line to highlight it.

[bvanevery]

Details slog war

slog war

After destroying the Usurpers, I did Democratic Planned Wealth Cybernetic for a long time.  That put me at -3 POLICE.  I slithered a mindworm towards home, and got this Hive base as a walk-in.  This is where my allies kept donating the planes, uselessly.

I used Brood Pits to get my cities to -1 POLICE, allowing me to move troops freely.  I rapidly jacked up the base with various expenditures.  Eventually, I was able to keep the donated planes.  They have not, however, been enough to make headway in the region.  I've destroyed a lot of minor units that were milling around and not really coming for me anyways.  It's been pretty much a pointless grind.

Details brute force

brute force

Similarly, fighting the Pirates has been pretty pointless too.  They didn't like my Wealth.  I've destroyed many size 1 bases but that never gets them to sign a Truce.  This is the 1st "real" base I've taken from them.  It required an awful lot of sailing of ships, which is a real drag.  Still don't get why spore launchers defend so well against even Empath units.  Eventually I wore them out though.  That worked mainly because the Pirates don't reinforce anything.  Well, I suppose they did send some units to attack, and they even killed a few of mine.  But I had many.

Details some of my secrets

some of my secrets

I've completed many SPs.  Once I completed the Manifold Harmonics, I switched from Democratic to Fundamentalist.  I wanted the INDUSTRY boost and it got me to +1 PLANET.  I haven't done any more than that because I've been working on so many SPs.  Domai blew me off as an ally a long time ago, but he still hasn't attacked.  I've got lots of troops ready for him when/if he does, enough that I feel pretty safe working on SPs.

Now that I've got Psi Gates, we'll be entering a new kind of war.  I'm not used to getting gates before orbital insertion.  I've got a lot of Drop garrisons to get some fly-ins, but they weren't near anything.  And I was darned if I was going to move them all over the map manually.  Psi Gates will allow me to come in and slowly start jumping around.  Too bad it's 1 unit at a time.   I wonder if I can send a full transport through a gate?  Doesn't help with landlocked cities though.  WTP doesn't have Heavy Transport available, so if I made a "truck" it could only carry 1 unit anyways.

Next year, Pirates finally signed a Treaty.  Maybe my Graviton ships are scary.  Still says MY 2309 though.  Guess I got a year bug again.

[bvanevery]

Details obsolete description

obsolete description

The short description for the Cloning Vats, "Population Boom At All Bases", is wrong.  It should probably say "+2 GROWTH".  The description can be changed in alphax.txt.

[bvanevery]

Details pod greed

pod greed

I complete the Space Elevator.  Half of my drop troops, I drop on the remaining supply pods of Planet.  This mostly stirs up mindworms, although I make a few credits, capture a mindworm, and clone one of my troops.  I'm not sure if those troops are going to survive, as they are ECM troops. 

Details milling war

milling war

The other half of the troops, I send at Miriam.  On first contact she reiterates her desire to kill me, despite me being Fundamentalist.  I don't really have a coherent plan for this.  I made these drop troops so long ago, in anticipation of a war with Domai.  They were intended to drop into several of his undefended cities.  Miriam doesn't have any undefended cities, so it's not clear what these troops are going to do.  I thought perhaps I'd surround and starve some outlying cities.  However once I dropped in, I quickly saw that she had her own troops milling around everywhere.  It's not going to be easy to move around.

Details burgers from space

burgers from space

What I do next, will depend on what survives.  I could start making Drop Formers, and build Airbases here and there, in order to get back into orbit.  But if all these troops die, there's no point.  I've got plenty for home defense against Domai, and I'm still working on some SPs.  Those that aren't, are starting to make Sky Hydroponics Labs again.  I've got some already but could certainly use a lot more.  I'm imagining that I'll complete Clinical Immortality and then somehow get Diplomatic Victory.  I wonder if I'll have to crush someone to do that?

[bvanevery]

Details hardly starving

hardly starving

The Believers aren't really starveable without a lot more troops.  I just don't have the concentration needed.  Mostly nothing has happened on this front.  Miriam has scratched me a bit, but typically dies.  Then I back off and try to heal in the fungus.  I've gradually gotten my other drop troops back into orbit and into theater, although some of them drowned when the south pole washed away.

I have some really nasty Singularity Antimatter Gravships coming, which will eventually resolve the stalemate.  They are seriously overbuilt and I'm not even sure the Antimatter armor provides any benefit.  I have a mild paranoia that ground troops could somehow attack them, since that's something I can do to gravships and locusts as a human player.  However, I've rarely seen the stock AI do it.  Usually only if some unit got in the way of a movement path, and not with direct intent.

Yang has made multiple "surprise" attacks and lost a city each time.  He's behaving himself at the moment.  Miriam has only lost 1 newly colonized city to me, and that didn't stop her from warring.   Domai is still oddly silent.  He often comes to use my Monoliths to heal and level up.  I deliberately moved a mindworm away from one of my Monoliths, so that he wouldn't use it as an excuse to talk to me.  If he had half a brain, the minute he opened his mouth he'd declare war.  But, he is Domai.

The irony is my endgame strategy would be to go Eudaimonic and grow the heck out of my population.  I have Clinical Immortality, but it's not enough to overcome the objections of all the factions.  For now, I will continue with my +3 INDUSTRY bonus.  There doesn't seem to be any benefit to doing anything other than building SPs.  War is certainly not worth it.  The exception would be if Domai declared war, as then I could increase my population easily and decrease his.  Pretty much everyone else though, not worth it.

If I was not Lal, I'm not sure what I'd be doing.  Conquest victory seems futile.  Singularity Planet Busters aren't a bargain anymore.  Although, once I've finished the Singularity Inductor and Bulk Matter Transmitter, maybe I'll think differently about them.  I suspect that Sky Hydroponics Labs are cheaper for me to do though.  And, completing late SPs, really isn't a different strategy from what I'm doing now.

[bvanevery]

Details why make weapons

why make weapons

So here we have an exceedingly expensive empath singularity antimatter gravship, determined to do only so-so against a mere mindworm.  Granted a demon boil, granted Miriam outranks me on PLANET.  But I do have the Dream Twister and this is disappointing.  I guess there's nothing for this but peon attrition.  I do have less expensive empath singularity gravships being made my nearest conquered base.

Details still not worth it

still not worth it

This is sad!  This is the cheaper version of the heavy armament, without the armor.  Guess I'm going to need to make a cheaper still, "good enough" armament, if I want to accept attrition.  Which I probably don't.  Spore launcher, the perfect defender of the game.

[bvanevery]

Details I hate floods

I hate floods

You know, I just hand terraformed this river system, the last time it wiped everything out.  I think this flooding also took a whole bunch of my Clean Hover Formers with it.  I need a more permanent solution.

Details and now it's a hill

and now it's a hill

I made a Singularity Tectonic Missile prototype a long time ago and never had a use for it.  I fired it off.  It's not enough though.  I need all these river valleys gone.  Guess I'll be making more of them.  They also seem to ruin various terrain features when they go off.  But if things are getting ruined by flooding anyways, then I'm damned if I do, damned if I don't.  And I know that flooding is pretty much forever!  I already got Launch Solar Shade passed 4 years ago, and the Pirates have found a way to mess the world up even more since then.

[bvanevery]

Details state of the populace

state of the populace

MY 2333.  Domai foolishly calls an election.  I have finished everything in the tech tree except Transcendent Thought, which I don't think gives any new capabilities.  I'm about to complete the Network Backbone, the last SP not counting the transcendence stuff.  I could definitely have won by transcendence by now, as Aki traded it to me at one point.  My massive productivity compared to my rivals, would have made it about 6 terms to activate the Voice, and then however long it takes to Ascend.  But I hate that ending, and will never choose it unless I'm playing something like the Cult of Planet.  To me it's like dying in Comet Hale-Bopp.

As you can see, I have the votes to be Supreme Leader if only Domain was in the game.  But there are the other factions to deal with as well.  I recently soured my alliance with Aki as I didn't feel like getting into her wars.  She blamed everyone else for them, and I haven't been compelled to talk to anyone else.  Domai has been weirdly silent all this time.  I mean, I'll take it, but I'm pretty sure in the stock binary he would have declared war eons ago.

I haven't really noticed any major turn slowdown.  That's pretty good for a 14 year old laptop.  Whether the AI is smart or not is another matter, but at least it's not taking annoyingly too long.

I've been Fundamentalist Planned Wealth Cybernetic for a very long time, because it is INDUSTRY oriented.  When I complete my last SP, I will transition to something more GROWTH oriented.  The peaceful resolution of the game will depend on whether all my space infrastructure can be rapidly filled out by high GROWTH.  If that doesn't work, well every city that doesn't need terraforming, is making Singularity Planet Busters.  One way or another, this game will end in my victory.

I wonder if people will vote me Supreme Leader if I nuke the Hive and Believers, who are ideologically opposed to me, and then buy Truces with everyone else?  That would take less nukes than nukeing the whole world.  On the other hand, it probably wouldn't take that much to conquer them conventionally.

But... this all feels like sandboxing, and that it should have been long since over, somehow.  There's just no profit angle to any of it.  Conquest feels really pointless.  If the goal is to have SPs, well I did most of them myself.  Which takes forever, so it's a different kind of pointless.  I'm not sure what the "fast" way to win WTP is.  I've certainly proven there's a reliable slow way.

Details jacking the happiness

jacking the happiness

I've built everything, I don't need money anymore.  I contemplate the wisdom of trying to buy out Domai's cities.  But I bet it'll be expensive, and will probably lead to war.  So just seems like it's more trouble than it's worth.  Ergo, I waste all my money on excessive PSYCH.  Next year the Network Backbone will be done and I'll start transitioning to GROWTH.

[bvanevery]

Details death wish

death wish

It's been awhile since Yang acted up.  Why does he keep doing it?  Ideologically compulsive I guess.  Will I nuke him?  Conquer him conventionally?  Try to legalize atrocities one last time?  Just commit the atrocities anyways?  Not like sanctions mean anything to me anymore.

Details I am the [progeny of unmarried parents]

I am the [progeny of unmarried parents]

This is what it's been like the whole game. I'm the only one willing to speak against the insanity of the U.N.!!
 

Details I's jes not playin'

I's jes not playin'

You know, if for no other reason than Domai's AI being completely slack, I've already won this game any number of ways.  I've been "playing it safe" far too long and think instead, I will make this interesting.  Can I wipe Yang in 1 turn without any further prep?  Not like I brought my nukes forwards.  I just have psi gates.  I wonder if a Drop Carrier is possible, and could carry a nuke?  Probably not in WTP.  Can't remember if I ever experimented with that in my own mod.  If I did, it was a long time ago.  Well it's besides the point as I don't have any made.  Psi gates it is.

Details the former that killed us all

the former that killed us all

The blast radius of a SPB is 4.  The tricky bit is destroying several of Yang's cities without hitting my own or other factions.  Isn't it convenient that he's still tending to his farms and fields?

Details the logic of the kill

the logic of the kill

The Believers are too close to Hive cities I want gone.  I may have already hit Believer troops in the blasts anyways.  Despite having been Fundamentalist for a very long time, Miriam refused to communicate with me, and historically has been an enemy.  I was planning to transition back to Democratic before Yang attacked, so she'll never like me, or vote for me.  Get thee gone!  If I reduce enough votes in the factions, I win.

Details wimp

wimp

I took a size 2 city from Svensgaard and he rolled over.  Problem is, I seem to recall that when you have an Infamous reputation, Truces might last only 1 turn.  He's allied with the Hive and actually has a ship in a city I would have liked to have nuked.  The point is moot as I didn't have enough gates to do the job anyways.  My nuclear inventory is surprisingly low as well, only 2 left.  I guess that means I'm not even remotely close to being able to nuke the whole planet.  I hope votes get me to victory faster.

Domai required that I walk into 3 of his empty cities before he signed a Truce.  Aki only required 1.  I was unable to settle the war between them, as I did Aki 2nd, and she said it was Domai's fault.

Details ecological consequences

ecological consequences

For all those nukes tossed, this is surprisingly the only city doing eco-damage.  If I weren't in the middle of building a nuke, I could put a Centauri Preserve on it and call it a day.  Technically there's nothing stopping me, except the 134 lost minerals.  Which I guess is only 1 turn at this base.  Ok, fine.  I mean who needs mindworm hassles?

[bvanevery]

Details the last holdout

the last holdout

Ok... I don't feel like playing this particular game anymore.  The endgame is really tedious.  I was surprised that I got away with setting off a lot of nukes, without doing any eco-damage.  I guess if I've managed to master eco-damage generally, with the Pholus Mutagen and whatnot, then some nukes aren't going to be that big a deal.  But the problem with nukes is, you have to settle everyone down again, if you want to get Diplomatic Victory.  Which prevents me from using more nukes.  Which is how I could wipe out the Believers easily and non-tediously.  Instead I'm preparing this big conventional push, and I feel like, I could have done that eons ago.  So why play anymore?

Interceptors are surprisingly effective against the various things I built.  One answer to that is ground assault.  However this can be really tedious on a big map.  Psi Gates don't let you put a lot of troops on target quickly.  I started to make a bunch of String Empath Wave Gravships, hoping Wave would be the answer to Air Superiority, but that's the point at which I got very very bored.

The Pirates have been jerky.  They can't do anything to me, but they're usually violating their Truce.  I feel like the nukes only bought me a Pirate nuisance.  I still don't have the votes to declare Diplomatic Victory.  It would take more conventional conquest to secure it, and that's why I feel this game is pointless.  Sure I could win, but I could have won better a long time ago.

I keep thinking that the "perfect circle" is the only legitimate and sustainable expansion.  Either that or some theory of "take the oceans" because you'll have the most food.  In a previous game, taking over the Pirates was relatively easy.

I'm imagining another game where I pursue a strategy of remote slavery.  Maybe Punishment Spheres can be useful.

I never did go Democratic to get the +7 GROWTH.  Warfare kept me Fundamentalist, at +5 GROWTH.  Pretty good GROWTH and some places did pop boom.  But I don't think I ever really implemented the "maximum growth" strategy.

[bvanevery]

Details modest Morgan

modest Morgan

Here's an isolated Morganic kingdom.  Played the beginning as Fundamentalist.  Tech made no difference as Deirdre gave or sold me stuff, and I think I researched a sufficient amount on my own anyways.  My empire has always seemed infrastructure limited rather than tech limited.  I got my Habs done fairly early.  When I learned both Democratic and Green I transitioned to that, accepting the hit to my SUPPORT.  This has left me slightly understaffed in the Formers dept.  I've done a lot of shifting my Rover Formers about, trying to get them to where they're needed.

I got a certain amount of spore launcher trashings at the beginning.  The world seemed far too dangerous to go Free Market with all this fungus around.  I had a certain amount of trouble even while Green.  This is the point in the game where I've finally acquired Synthetic Fossil Fuels from my ally the Usurpers.  Deirdre had it some time ago, but she kept getting other techs, and selling me those instead of what I wanted.  That non-specificity of transaction can be really annoying, compared to other games.

Pretty soon I'll have some fungicide.  I might also complete the Xenoempathy Dome.  Deirdre was correctly cagey about trading it to me at first.  But later, she just traded me freakin' everything.  Really doesn't have any sense of restraint.

When I first met Deirdre, I think she wanted war with the Pirates, and I granted it to her.  That was a long time ago, and there was never any possibility of an actual fight.  We're at peace now.  The Cult of Planet has been sassy nearly from the get-go.  I've run around destroying a lot of empty size 1 cities, using only 1 Scout Rover.  Didn't cause him to sign a Truce.  We're not anywhere near each other by land though.  I see they've got a goofy sea settlement getting closer to me.  Guess I'll go infiltrate it.

So far this game has been a lot of waiting around for infrastructure.  I'm doing Tree Farms without any Genejack Factories.  I just don't know what to expect when I finally go Free Market.  If it ends up being some kind of mindworm hell then I'll probably bag this game as pointless.  Morgan seems pretty crippled and I'm not so far seeing why he's a "good" faction in any way.

[bvanevery]

Details still isolated

still isolated

This is the point at which I finally went to Wealth, making me Democratic Green Wealth Cybernetic.  I think the interloping mindworms have been far too dangerous to consider Free Market.  I just captured a spore launcher that was tearing up a nice forest patch I wanted to settle.  At least now I've finally freed my cities of the clutches of fungus.  There are no direct routes of attack anymore.  Another factor in my recalcitrance is Deirdre has been a huge technological benefactor.  I'm not sure how it would ever be more profitable, to cut off her largesse and go it alone.

Factions have been weirdly isolated this game.  It's taken a long time for anyone to meet the University, and none of us have yet met the Peacekeepers.  I know where they are, having found the USS Unity maps early in the game, but they're so remote that my ships haven't managed to sail up there.  They might also be landlocked.

Lack of a world community, harms me because I can't get a Global Trade Pact established.  I'm doubting I can win the Governorship, but the University did just trade me Sky Hydroponics Labs technology, which at least makes it theoretically possible to pursue.  Still need to get Doctrine: Air Power out of him, but he cut me off.

Militarily, war with the Usurpers is logical because they're relatively close by and want me to be Planned, which I can never do.  They were allies but got sick of me being Green some time ago.  However my -3 POLICE and -3 MORALE don't exactly put me on a war footing.  And if I do go Free Market, my mindworms won't be any use either.  Still, the AI's garrisoning of the ocean will probably completely suck, so I could at least wipe all of those out.

Details make me money

make me money

Next year I ran into Cha Dawn, and he did know where Lal was.  I wasn't able to do my usual thing of selling commlinks at great profit before getting everyone to know each other.  I figured it best to call for a Global Trade Pact while there's no Governor, so that the Governor couldn't veto it.  It worked!

The Pirates are starting to hate me for my Wealth.  They are far away though and of no military consequence.

Just realized I'm going to be at -7 POLICE if I go Free Market.  I'm still exploring.

Since I have a super efficient economy, I adjust my budget to 50-30-20.  Deirdre can do the research.

Details c'mon leave me alone

c'mon leave me alone

Next year, this is the nonsense I have to keep dealing with.  My captured spore launcher, it stirred up another spore launcher trying to go after the new one, and then died shooting at it.  This is why I don't want a big negative PLANET rating.  I don't think Free Market is designed to be something you can just do.  It's like this shaggy dog story where there's always a reason it's a bad idea.

[bvanevery]

Details the last tech straw

the last tech straw

Ok look I'm quitting.  The game's level of tech leakage is ridiculous.  I haven't researched a darned thing.  Zak wanted war with Deirdre, I declined.  Zak then allies with me anyways.  I get free tech from him.

Then I talk to Lal and he trades me a bunch of stuff, that previously he wasn't interested in trading.  So now I'm just loaded.  I haven't researched a darned thing, and you're obviously a complete chump to do any research in this game.  It's totally out of balance and it makes a lot of the pace of the game pointless.

Why do I need to worry about Wealth and Free Market, when Eudaimonic is right around the corner?   Well, maybe it isn't, but I've got a really strong feeling that my own tech choices in this game are completely meaningless.  I'm going to be given everything, which makes this pretty much a baby game.

I know I've filed this in the Issue Tracker before, and it's time to ping that if it hasn't been pinged recently.  This is just crazy.

I don't feel a need to playtest WTP any more.  Some of the top issues need to be addressed, to be worth playing any more:

• tech pace and leakage is silly bad, especially from allies
• AI colonizes way too much without making the bases defensible
• AI doesn't have a reaction radius, when danger is approaching or it's actually being trashed by an invader