Solver: How did you stumble across Apolyton?
Velociryx: 'Stumbled' is quite literally the word. When I first got SMAC, I saw right away that it was a game of enormous complexity, so I did some web surfing at work for SMAC sites....one link led to another, and at some point during that journey, I found myself at Apolyton. There were a lot of SMAC boards up at that time, but none of them had the depth that Apolyton had, so it was an easy decision to begin calling the place home!

Solver: What were your first thoughts about SMAC, just when it came out?
Velociryx: Well....actually I was a little overwhelmed. Enthusiastic, yes, because Sid Meier is probably the greatest game designer ever, but when I saw the size of the manual that came with the game, I figured it’d have a really steep learning curve. Of course, Sid came through once more, and in under thirty minutes I had hit enough of the high spots in the manual that I more-or-less felt like I knew what I was doing.

Solver: What inspired you to write the first version of your Strategy Guide?
Velociryx: That pretty much came about by accident as well. I have some pretty meticulous traits, and when I saw how complex the game was, I started making careful game notes any time I would sit down to play....testing out ideas here and there to see what worked and what didn’t. After a dozen games or so, it began to get exponentially harder to keep track of the six dozen post-it notes and loose sheets of notebook paper lying all around the computer, so I figured it might be more efficient to type them all up and get them a little better organized. Those original essays to myself served as the genesis for the guide, and as I began posting more at Apolyton, the discussions there served to enhance the work already done, sometimes taking it in completely new directions.

Solver: What do you think are 3 most important properties to become a good SMACer / strategy gamer?
Velociryx: Hmmm....that’s a tough one. I think everybody who’s even a little bit interested in strategy games in general can excel at them, using their own native abilities, but if I had to pick three characteristics in common, I’d say they were:

1) A willingness to learn and experiment with totally untested ideas, even if those tests lead to one or more stunning defeats. This would include ruthlessly defying conventional wisdom in preference for some totally new idea.

2) Attention to detail. The Devil really IS in the details in SMAC, and those who pay careful attention to the most minute or mundane detail will invariably outperform those who overlook them. In SMAC, this holds true from everything to NOT relying on auto-terraforming and governors, to micro-management down at the 'worker' level at each and every one of your bases, making as-needed adjustments every turn to maximize your game benefits.

3) Patience. An oftentimes underrated attribute in people. The fact is though, that once you’ve played the game through a few times, when you start up a new one, you’re already thinking several turns ahead to 'when I have X-number of bases,' or 'when I get this tech.' Unfortunately, in the rush to get to that point in their game, many people 'blow through' a number of turns too quickly and without much thought. Do that often enough, and it’ll come back to bite you. This holds even more true in MP games. If you’ve got two relatively equal opponents (militarily), it’s been my experience that he who attacks first, loses--and I‘m talking about an all-out attack here. This is mostly because the attacking player is basically laying most, if not all of his cards on the table right then and there, while his more patient opponent is playing his cards closer to the vest. You would think that the attacking player has the initiative by striking first, and against an unprepared opponent that is absolutely true--which is why the rover rush is so effective. But when the opponents are of more-or-less equal strength, you can almost rely on the aggressor losing out. I’ve found that basic premise to be true in almost every war game I’ve ever played.

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