Native life (SMAC)

Flora

Xenofungus is the only native plant species found on Planet. It grows on land as well as sea. Formers can be used to remove it from tiles, as well as to plant it. Native lifeforms can move through it without problems, but anything else is slowed down considerably unless certain technology has been researched.

Fauna

All three animal lifeforms found in the game have seven states they can go through: Hatchling, Larval Mass, Pre-Boil, Boil, Mature Boil, Great Boil, Demon Boil.

• Mindworms are the most common native lifeform on Planet. By moving through the Xenofungus you can agitate them and cause more to appear. They are a good source of energy credits. The area near the healing monoliths is the best place to hunt them, as each time you move to a monolith your unit will be instantly healed, and you can keep on hunting. This tactic allows you to level up your unit as well. You also have a chance of capturing a mindworm, which adds to your military strength, without requiring any minerals to support it. A mindworm only requires 1/3 of a turn to move through a tile of Xenofungus.
• The Isle of The Deep is an aquatic subspecies of Mindworm, where waterborne Mindworms cluster together and secrete a glue-like substance that bonds them together to form one giant mass. If captured or bred in bases that have researched the proper technology, they can be used for transport. They move easily through water tiles covered in fungus.
• Locusts of Chiron are a far less seen species. It is able to fly.

In the Alien Crossfire expansion pack, new species were added.

• Sealurk is a more powerful water predator.
• Spore Launchers are a mobile unit able to act as artillery. They often destroy mines, farms, and other things you have built.
• Fungal towers sometimes appear along with other units, usually large masses of mindworms.

External links

• Official website page for native life