I've played SMAC on and off for, wow, probably over a decade now (though it's not until just recently that it really started to click), but I've never tried it's expansion.

I was wondering if it'd be something that's worth trying to dig up. I've heard a lot of bad things about it, in the sense that it completely butchers the game balance. I've also heard that the new factions are either boring, game-breaking or both, but as I understand it they're optional.

SPs like the Cloudbase Academy do seem to be way too strong, even compared to the best SPs of SMAC.

So, what are your thoughts?

I didn't care for it as much as just SMAC by itself, and it tends to remain uninstalled. The new human factions didn't add a whole lot, and didn't really seem to fit the game as well as the original factions. Then the two alien factions could really throw off the balance of the whole game. If both alien factions were present in a game then their permanent state of vendetta would mean a war of attrition kept them both weak (as long as they were close enough to actually fight), until a human faction joined in and tipped the balance, leaving just one weakened alien faction remaining (that wouldn't pose much of a threat for the rest of the game). On the other hand, if only one alien faction were present then their advanced technological start typically meant that they'd grind into dust any human factions near them that they happened to take a disliking to. Basically it was an interesting game concept that just didn't work well in practice. Other than that there were some small changes to the tech tree and some new secret projects, but nothing that I felt really added much to the way the game played.

It's not bad but I wouldn't go crazy looking for it. I personally find the vanilla version to be just as good.

Now see I guess I see it in a different light then the rest of you .... Yes the expansion is unbalanced. I guess that's why I like it so much I want the challenge of a more powerful Alien faction that has ground a few Human factions into dust.

I guess what I'm saying is that balanced factions are a bad thing in the sense that as a single player experience it takes all the strategy out of playing if you know as human on a balance playing field your always going to win just because we think and the AI's don't.

Balance is a good thing in Multiplayer don't get me wrong. just not so good in Single player. I wouldn't think of playing without the expansion because all of the original factions are too balanced and sameness feeling... imho of course.

Beakie

I personally really like SMAX, but you should be aware that under some circumstances, the new (human) factions can indeed be quite unbalanced. Like, for example, the Pirates, if played right, can completely dominate without really trying. The Cult is like supercharged Gaia. Things can be slightly whack.

The two Alien factions are broken, trash, and should just plain be ignored. I have no idea what they were thinking, there.

But god knows that I could not live without the Cloudbase Academy.

I really like the Drones for that communist worker-class revolution feeling!

And as Beakie said, the Alien factions are good as computer opponent in a single-player experience. I guess their advantages are justified by their constant vendetta. The only problem is mainly how starting position affects the game, but i guess it was always a problem, if you preferred a more peaceful approach, going for energy market victory etc., and happen to be very close to Believers or Spartans.

On the whole, SMAX is an awesome improvement to the game, if you play it right.

If you just fire up with all the new factions, it's not great. In general, it's far more fun to play AS one of the new factions than against them. The pirates are slightly broken, but probably the most fun to play as. The conciousness rocks trancendend-difficulty runs on huge maps, though you do lose the ability to population boom with them. I recommend playing with a mix of new and old factions, or just old factions. Fuck the aliens; they're a pain in the ass.

I mostly prefer SMAX because of the awesome secret projects that were added. Cloudbase Academy (command nexus for air) and Planetary Energy grid (free Energy Banks and better stockpile energy) are incredibly useful. The Hunter-Seeker Algorithm also got a well-deserved, (though gentle) nerf. The only mistake I really noticed was that Cloudbase Academy and Cyborg Factory are both on mind-machine interface. Add into that getting 2 special abilities on units and the awesome copter chassis and it becomes the most OP tech in the game. The only reason not to rush to it is if you're trying to beat someone to Hunter-Seeker, and even then they have a lot of techs in common.

Other useful things: there are new base facilities that improve the effectiveness of sea terraforming enhancements. With aquafarm and thermocline transducer, each coastal square can produce 4 nutrients and 3 energy. Plasma armor, and neutronium armor also get variants that boost defense against psi and rovers/ships. They're more expensive, but incredible if you're trying to defend against Deidre or someone using a ton of rovers.

On top of that, there are a number of bug fixes, and the AI is tougher. The AI won't gleefully trade their home base with 3 secret projects for your backwater outpost. Needlejets don't naturally crash the game. And I've played several nailbiting games where yang had planet busters and demonstrated on me that he wasn't afraid to use them.

Completely recommend if you can find it.