How does mid-late game tech work?

[Fennec E Fox]

Question in title. For some specific examples, just what are you doing to your foe when, say, your Needlejet strafes a hostile Rover with it's Chaos gun? What does a Chaos gun shoot? Are you stuffing the improbability drive in a bullet and firing it or something? What even is a Shard launcher? Shard of what? And the Probability sheath armor? What does it all mean?!

[Hydra]

A lot of SMAC's higher techs are intentionally subjective. It's technology beyond our current level of understanding. Of course it cannot be well explained.

[Fennec E Fox]

Huh. Well, that makes sense. Thanks.

[grodysattva]

A chaos gun destabilizes the particle cohesion of the matter it's fired at. A superstring gun pulls apart matter at the dimensional level. A shard launcher fires superdense, fusion forged matter. A probability sheath distorts reality around the wearer allowing the wearer the most favorable outcome; a lot of this was expanded on in the (non-canon) novelizations.

[Shadow_Actual]

I'd imagine that antimatter armour works like reactive armour; when it detects an incoming attack, it explodes, disrupting the attack while leaving the wearer unharmed. Stasis shields distort time to deflect attacks, while a Singularity Laser basically fires a linear black hole, spaghettifying everything in its path. Blink Displacers and Psi Gates are Star Trek transporters in all but name, disassembling things then sending the stuff to a receiver where they are reassembled.

Also, it's kinda funny to me that a Probablity Sheath weaponizes good fortune while also being only halfway up the tech tree.

Also also, I'm given to understand that the novelizations end with humanity nuking itself again, and the survivors cloistering themselves away in a bunker inside a mountain, so them being non-canon is probably for the best.

[TornadoADV]

Originally posted by Shadow_Actual:

Also also, I'm given to understand that the novelizations end with humanity nuking itself again, and the survivors cloistering themselves away in a bunker inside a mountain, so them being non-canon is probably for the best.

The three novels are basically, "Humanity sucks, has always sucked and will continue to suck in the future. But this time in space."

[Fennec E Fox]

"Also also, I'm given to understand that the novelizations end with humanity nuking itself again"

Nuking or Planetbuster-ing?

I distinctly remember the nuclear warheads we know and understand to have been completely abandonded, hence why the Planetbusters were invented. A "totally not a nuke" high-yield ballistic missile.

[ArchmageXin]

I read the novels. Long story short from memory 20 years ago...

1) I forgot what Yang did, but he was considered a criminal and no long given life-extension treatment.

2) The person who replace him was actually a secret clone of Yang's, whom Yang raised "so the only person who can overthrow his regime was himself"

3) Miram did something to piss off one of factions, and get her crew wiped out in a bombardment. She came out the wreckage and become super radical.

4) Jesus became a new fangled religion like Drug/sex/rock and roll (aka the "J-freaks" by other colonists), these believers basically became Miram's super spies and start doing crazy things, like releasing nerve gas while high on something.

5) The person from #2, Yang-son if you will, was killed by Yang's daughter after two of them got married. Kind of incestery...yes.

6) Yang's daughter and Miram team up, with Mrs.Yang "will control underground" while Miram control "above ground"

7) They eventually got a whole bunch of Planetbusters University had (Cause science nerds can't win against zealots). And proceed to use them.

8) Planet react immediately and basically turned hard mode.

9) Lal meet Miram in AI space (Which resume a ruined Church), ask the ♥♥♥♥ she did, she said "It seem to be a good idea at the time"

10) Most faction leaders and their handful of supporters evac to a secret base, which they enter into a AI-dream that will last 500 years....then they will all die when power run out.

11) Lai choose not to take that route, so he became worm food or whatever.

THE END.

[Fennec E Fox]

^
Ouch.

[ArchmageXin]

Yea I heard the author said he wanted an "unexpected ending"

And to be fair to Miram, she somehow manage to survive in the wild without rebreather and other equipment. She was probably mind addled at that point.