Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri/Factions

Playing styles
The detailed descriptions of each faction refer to three playing styles: Builder, Hybrid, and Momentum. These will be defined here. But first, it must be recognized that there are as many different approaches to the game as there are players who love the game, but these (often wildly varying) approaches can, in at least a general sense, be grouped into the three basic styles of play. They are basic archetypes rather than full styles. Recognizing them is vitally important in effective planning.

Builder
Builders don't care much for fighting, preferring to cloister themselves off on some small to mid-sized continent, terraform, build infrastructure, and research new technologies. The hallmarks of Builder style play are:
 * 1) Long delays in prototyping new weapons and defensive systems, in favor of constructing infrastructure
 * 2) The preservation of as close to 100% of industrial capacity as possible in order to speed the completion of the aforementioned infrastructure by minimizing support costs
 * 3) Very aesthetically-pleasing empires (let's face it, Builder Empires just look cool!)
 * 4) Strict adherence to industrial caps with regards to ecological damages, that is, Builders spend a lot of time terraforming, and they don't like to see their efforts undone by sudden fungal blooms, so you will seldom find any, and certainly no significant eco-damage in a Builder Empire). For the reason of preservation of Industrial Capacity alone, "Biogenetics" is probably a Builder player's most treasured tech, and many a Builder player will micromanage his or her bases down to the unit level, upgrading any unit which is tying up support costs.

Hybrid
The Hybrid's main watch-word is flexibility. He's the guy who wants to be ready for anything that might come up, and while he greatly admires the Builder's stunning efficiency and sterling industry, he also knows that somewhere out there on the map, and maybe closer than he thinks, are people who would like nothing better than to take it all away from him. To that end, the Hybrid player makes some "strategic sacrifices," developing a stout standing army as early as techs permit it, and upgrading and honing them constantly. Often, the Hybrid Player has half (or more) of his army on the prowl, looking for pods, and looking for potential enemies of the state. Yes, he's interested in developing an economy to rival his Builder counterparts, but not at the risk of being blind-sided by some fast-moving attacker.

Momentum
Fast and loose! The Momentum player's main goal is to expand with lightening speed, get a horde of small bases (production centers) up and running, and then use them to build a war machine that is second to none, and while he's getting his production centers geared up, his scouts are on the prowl, a sharp eye open for signs of anybody else. The moment he finds someone else, the real show begins, and the Momentum player is banking on the fact that, because he's so active, even if you have a technology edge, he'll be able to probe his way to technological parity and smash you with his relatively large standing force. Bases are seen as little more than barracks, and not much attention is given to infrastructural builds, beyond the absolutely essential (i.e., network nodes, to cash in artifacts found or stolen).

The factions
Velociryx wrote so much about the individual factions that we had to split it all up into two subchapters:


 * The SMAC Factions
 * The Alien Crossfire Factions

Here you can also see a table comparing them all (Alien Crossfire factions not integrated yet):

[1] Meaning 4 population is the limit before a Hab Complex is built, and 11 population is the limit before Habitation Dome is built.

[2] Negative modifiers to efficiency are ignored, while positive modifiers still take effect.

[3] Meaning 9 population is the limit before a Hab Complex is built, and 16 is the limit before a Habitation Dome is built.

''Portions of this chapter were originally written by Velociryx in his SMAC FAQ. Used with permission.''