>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> SMAC *COMPLETE* BORG  2.0 FACTION PACK <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Authored, mixed, modified, & otherwise pieced together by Valtarien of 
Borg. { valtarien@iname.com }

Please keep this readme with all included materials when distributing 
this faction pack.

To use this fac pac, simply unzip into your main Alpha Centauri 
directory, choosing to overwrite when prompted. Don't worry, this will 
not overwrite any of the original SMAC files, the only reason why the 
prompts would appear is because I saved the original folder info. so 
the files would go right where they needed to. Of course, if some 
totally unforeseen & inexplicable thing happens to mess up your 
original files (not sure what that would be), you can always reinstall 
them off of the CD. 

When you start the game, at the faction selection window, select the 
faction that you want to replace (you'll have to pick one to do 
without; I'd suggest the Hive, see below) & select "Load". 
Type in "Borg", then click OK.

First off, I must give credit to those whose works I have incorporated 
into my own. William Jake Faust { faust@aloha.net } deserves mention 
since it was his Borg 1.4 Faction that inspired me to do my own. There 
are still some elements in my Borg.txt file that mirror his. Actually, 
I started out originally to simply modify his, but as I am always the 
sort to have my own ideas on any given thing, I eventually changed a 
great deal & added a great deal more to what I had started out with. 
What I really wanted was a viable & play-balanced faction representing 
one of my favorite villain races (right up there with the Shadows of 
Babylon 5... hmm, maybe next, hehe) that was not only believable, but 
which included all (or at least all that I found to be practical) 
elements of the original SMAC factions. Naturally that meant not only 
the associated text files, but fully customized leader portraits & 
faction logos, & of course, the audio blurb for their intro. This took 
quite a bit of work since I'd only just installed Paint Shop Pro in 
order to handle the graphics work. Since I'd never used PSP or any 
other beefy graphics program before, I was in for quite a ride. 
Anyway, to get more to the point, I scoured the 'Net for any images, 
sounds, etc. on the Borg that I could find (not to mention the filter 
for PSP to introduce TV-like scan lines in an image to emulate the 
portraits used in the original factions; in case you're wondering, 
that would be the Jeux de lignes "Entrelacement" filter). I realize 
that inevitably I must have included some copywritten material in what 
I tossed together into this fac pac, so all I can say is that if you 
notice that I have used a bit of material that is copywritten by you, 
write me at: valtarien@iname.com. I'd be happy to work something out 
with you such as crediting you in the readme or even editing your 
material out if you find yourself particularly offended. I don't claim 
sole credit for everything included in this package, only the 
organization of such as well as some (extensive, in some cases) 
editing of the materials. I do know that Star Trek, Borg, Seven of 
Nine, & other "official" references to the movies or series of the 
Star Trek genre are copyrights of Paramount as well as (I imagine) the 
quote of the Borg hail that I used (from the movie Star Trek First 
Contact) & I am in no way disputing their rights to such. I have 
tossed this faction & all included materials together for the sole 
purpose of adding a new dimension to a good idea that I found to 
already be in use. I ask no money for my efforts (nor has any other 
faction authors, to my knowledge), only a little recognition for the 
week & a half I spent compiling, testing, & rehashing one approach to 
another to get this working to my satisfaction. All I ask is that you 
always include this readme when passing it along to friends, 
associates, or whatnot. If you want to distribute this on your Web 
site, just write me (again, valtarien@iname.com) & let me know. 

Some might question why I specified the Borg to automatically receive 
the Punishment Spheres. Well, the reason is fairly simple. I wanted 
to reflect not only the lack of a discipline problem among the Borg 
(they may be all Drones, but they're obedient ones), but also to 
reflect the fact (or at least the commonly held assumption) that the 
typical Borg method of acquiring new technology is to simply steal it 
from other civilizations on assimilating them. The way I see it, in 
a collective society such as the Borg's, every member is an equal. The 
very nature of this societal model precludes the existence of 
exceptional individuals, whether good (talents), or bad (drones).
Furthermore, the Borg habit of stealing new technology would either 
indicate the lack of ingenuity to develop cutting-edge tech (at least 
very quickly) or the desire to invest the necessary time/resources to 
do so. Because of this, they seemed to merit a hit in the research 
dep't. Giving every Borg city a P-Sphere by default accomplishes both 
quite nicely. So the P-Spheres are included for their effects only, 
not because the Borg are in any need of such primitive means of social 
"incentives". So, in other words, just use your imagination a bit. :)

Also, due to the inherent similarities, I'd suggest using the Borg 
faction in place of the Hive. I do feel they're different enough to 
provide different playing experiences, but the two of them together in 
any given game is a bit too much "collectivity" for my tastes. If you 
really must have the Hive in the same game as the Borg, then try using 
the Borg in place of the Believers (because of the slow research rate).

I actually would have preferred to include Locutus as the default 
leader as I am a bit "Locutus-biased", but as the only images I found 
of him were high color photos that don't seem to convert well to 
SMAC's 256-color palette, I went with an artist's rendering of the 
"true" Borg Queen I found on the 'Net (sorry, I don't remember where; 
I wish I did, since I'd like to credit the artist).

For those of you who want to play against the Borg as a computer-
controlled opponent, or who simply like the Borg so much that you wish 
to make it a "permanent" faction without having to load it manually 
each time, do this:

	Open the file alpha.txt, go to the section marked "#FACTIONS" 
		and select one of the original factions to replace. 
 	
	Then type the following in its place:	BORG,  BORG


[On a side note, after accumulating so much Borg material, whether it 
be images, sounds, icons, etc., I decided to pick out the best of the 
best (IMHO) & throw together my own Windows98/ Plus! theme. Problem 
is, I currently don't have a Web page (soon, though) to post it on, & 
it's 4.75 MB (zipped). But, if there are any Webmasters out there who 
would like to post it on their site, let me know.]


Questions? Comments? Send them to (again!): valtarien@iname.com