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Strategic Sage posted:I'm not enforcing it unless it clearly crosses the line. We've gotten close and maybe edged over it, but not much has been a clear violation. Any units themselves that we saw in the videos are fair game - nothing like that is ever a spoiler because … well, it's out there. It's been shown so it's not a spoiler - I don't want people to not be able to talk about the game at all. It's only stuff that hasn't been shown that I care about. So i.e. if you have talk about other not-yet-seen units etc. for purposes of comparison to make a point … don't. Otherwhise I don't see it being a problem. I suppose it would be a bit of gaming the system but what I mean is if you know how long it takes the convoy to get to a point on the map and if there is a point you can hide in which the AI won't ever see into at all could you pop over a hill or around a corner at the exact right time and get the convoy quick enough before it turns around. Way too much work instead of just going to the next point of course.
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Apr 12, 2020 04:59
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The reason I don't think that works is there are at least four transporters in the convoy. So you could theoretically get one or two with precise timing, but I think the others would just turn around. *waits for someone to post a video proving me wrong*
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Apr 12, 2020 15:59
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Strategic Sage posted:The reason I don't think that works is there are at least four transporters in the convoy. So you could theoretically get one or two with precise timing, but I think the others would just turn around. This is quite true and I have done it. You can hide and let the first light hoverdyne squad pass you by, but I think the one in the crater is specifically positioned there at map start. As soon as any Order unit has you in line of sight the transports run for it. You can chase them down if you took a squad of light terradynes but you probably won't be able to kill them before they get back into range of the base's heavy turrets. Main Battle Terradynes can, incidentally, take those heavy turrets in a stand-up fight. The Crayven Wolf is...well, a tank. Heavy frontal armour, powerful main gun, and decent straight-line acceleration. They're a solid match for any ground unit and are never a bad choice for a battle. Their HP won't last as long as you'd like, so keep that APC around and heal them up between fights. The only dangers to a MBT are hard counters that kill it too fast to pop its mostly-defensive equipment, so they're better on mobile offense and need scouts out ahead. We also got a glimpse of the Order's MBT-equivalent, the main battle hoverdyne. Slightly longer-ranged, looks like a hovering 1950s truck cab with a big turret on the roof and shoots big blue plasma bolts. Vastly superior to the "sneeze and they explode" light hoverdyne and hoverbikes we've seen to date but will lose hard to Wolves in a stand-up fight (even light terradynes can give them trouble if the terradynes use their equipment). But of course they have the speed and mobility to circle around and get flank or rear shots, and the big blue bolts hit quite hard. They may seem outmatched but it's very much a GDI/Nod balance situation with these two. More on this later.
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Apr 12, 2020 17:44
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 Neighbors At The Door (30:51) A significant turn in the Parker-Hayes relationship is quite precious IMO. This mission has a surprise for us, and most intense fighting yet. Available Squads Vanguards (Terradyne)
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Apr 14, 2020 14:45
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I like the design of the xenofacts, they look like old, weathered bone.
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Apr 14, 2020 15:56
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The hangar guards being worried about spy satellites and not caring about the window or at least a guard on each side of the super secret storage of alien fuckery, screams corporate best practices followed by someone rating checking boxes to rise in rank over doing a job they aren't really paid enough to do. Also, if the war was a million years ago, erosion would have done a number on the remains, maybe not quite erased craters yet, but done quite a number. Not on the old bone tower though, it is still turgidly skyward, its noble erection clawing at the clouds as intended. The lack of signs also isn't too obvious to invaders busy fighting a war because they weren't looking for that right now, earthworks are earthworks, how they are used in battle is the more pressing question.
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Apr 14, 2020 17:47
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Looking back on the game now they got away with murder a bit on those flat featureless maps.
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Apr 14, 2020 18:02
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Not that flat. Sage keeps letting his guys shoot the small hills in front of them instead of moving them or moving the camera to check fire lanes when placing units 
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Apr 14, 2020 18:08
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RTS where terrain elevation isn't obvious and yet is important, shameful, put a hotkey toggle for contour lines displayed on the main view. Active by default. Actually, it's one of the things that the wargame series did really well, with the clear markers between flat terrain and slopping terrain with the edges, fields and slopes.
SIGSEGV fucked around with this message at 21:48 on Apr 14, 2020 |
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Apr 14, 2020 18:15
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I remember playing this game long ago and struggling to make use of regular infantry beyond the first missions. Glad to see I'm not the only one.
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Apr 14, 2020 21:37
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SIGSEGV posted:The hangar guards being worried about spy satellites and not caring about the window or at least a guard on each side of the super secret storage of alien fuckery, screams corporate best practices followed by someone rating checking boxes to rise in rank over doing a job they aren't really paid enough to do. It is a delightfully low tech entrance. SIGSEGV posted:Also, if the war was a million years ago, erosion would have done a number on the remains, maybe not quite erased craters yet, but done quite a number. Not on the old bone tower though, it is still turgidly skyward, its noble erection clawing at the clouds as intended. This isn't the Shadows of the Damned LP! mmtt posted:I remember playing this game long ago and struggling to make use of regular infantry beyond the first missions. Glad to see I'm not the only one. Infantry being useful entirely depends on the terrain. Big open maps just means nowhere for them to go.
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Apr 15, 2020 19:32
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We haven't seen the Scout TD in action so I won't comment on it just yet, but this mission does make clear why you might need them - the Order's Medium Hoverdynes can shoot from outside your MBTs' vision range! (Also, the reason that base entrance leading off the map is there is because this mission uses part of the same White Asem map as last time, but rotates the terrain 90 degrees. That entrance is the one we defended back in Mission 2). Enrica is a remarkably well-realised example of a Corporate Arsehole and gives me flashbacks to real corporate arseholes in my life who even sounded rather similar. Just without the alien artefacts.
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Apr 15, 2020 20:45
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mmtt posted:I remember playing this game long ago and struggling to make use of regular infantry beyond the first missions. Glad to see I'm not the only one. Their mortars, as we've seen, are pretty much always going to be useful. There are conditions where they are valuable beyond that which I won't spoil, but it's also true as we are seeing that vehicles do tend to steal their thunder more often than not. Loxbourne posted:the reason that base entrance leading off the map is there is because this mission uses part of the same White Asem map as last time, but rotates the terrain 90 degrees. That entrance is the one we defended back in Mission 2 Ahh, I was not aware - thanks for this.
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Apr 15, 2020 22:04
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I tend to keep one infantry with my force throughout the game for a couple reasons. 1. We are guaranteed to have an APC so they aren't slowing you down 2. They have an important niche. Vehicles have a hard time hitting infantry. There's a reason our MBT have those HE shells! Infantry can tank hits from all but scouts for a long time, especially if you are on the ball with medpacks. Similarly, in an offensive situation infantry are the best way to remove the enemy infantry instead of having to sit there for five minutes wasting shots or using up consumables
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Apr 15, 2020 22:30
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SIGSEGV posted:RTS where terrain elevation isn't obvious and yet is important, shameful, put a hotkey toggle for contour lines displayed on the main view. Active by default. Actually, it's one of the things that the wargame series did really well, with the clear markers between flat terrain and slopping terrain with the edges, fields and slopes. Homeworld:DOK did this the best, I think. It feels so readable and responsive.
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Apr 15, 2020 23:07
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Strategic Sage posted:
some more subtle gender stuff: my... secretary must have misfiled that part of the report yes, i suppose he must have
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Apr 16, 2020 00:41
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sebmojo posted:my... secretary must have misfiled that part of the report I noticed that as well and forgot to mention it. I think it's really well-done there because as mentioned it's subtle and they don't dwell on it or make a big show of it.
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Apr 16, 2020 16:09
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The Satellite (23:13) A new type of infantry awaits us, a new region in Krig and a new biome … we're definitely into the second act now. This mission requires some multitasking, and is another one where the design of it isn't entirely as advertised. I've never seen anyone else do it the intended way because of that.
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Apr 18, 2020 14:07
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Oh, the missiles spinning around air units, the nightmares instead of hitting them, the nightmares just don't stop.
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Apr 18, 2020 16:17
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Ah the Jaegers. Excellent infantry that struggle only due to having small squads. At first glance they're a standard RTS stealthy sniper unit (there weren't that many such units at the time Ground Control came out, actually - pretty much only Starcraft's Ghost), but their rifle is anti-materiel so they are VERY capable at light anti-tank work, particularly from cover. They're excellent at picking off defence turrets too. They will kill infantry so long as the infantry doesn't locate and overwhelm them. The Scout terradyne is a dune buggy with attitude. Slightly armoured but it has no business getting into a fight with anything other than infantry or light aircraft. It'll last longer than Order hoverbikes (and can kill them handily, and even engage a light hoverdyne squad one on one although you shouldn't let them). I found them useful for their long sight range and for chasing down infantry, since they're one vehicle that has less trouble cleaning them out. Lastly, I like the asymmetrical design of Order light aerodynes. A nice touch.
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Apr 18, 2020 18:18
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Jaeger's don't get a great intro because except for the trees and the area around the crater this is basically just another flat open map where they'll get attacked from everywhere but later on there's a ton of use for them.
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Apr 18, 2020 21:49
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I think this was the first mission that really kicked my rear end in Ground Control.
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Apr 18, 2020 23:00
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No Win Situation (21:16) The Order finally gets up off it's arse and makes its presence felt in a more aggressive fashion. The second half of this mission features arguably their most-feared squad, one that veterans of Ground Control have good reason to hate going up against. Available Squads Vanguards (Terradyne) Headhunters (Terradyne)
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Apr 21, 2020 15:30
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PurpleXVI posted:I think this was the first mission that really kicked my rear end in Ground Control. Same for me. I'd lost other missions prior to this one on the first attempt - the xenofact attack in the previous one as an example - but the starting battle in the Satellite mission was a bear for younger me. I think it's the point where I turned the difficulty down to Easy and just said 'screw it, I want to follow the rest of the story more than I want to be good at this game'.
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Apr 21, 2020 15:32
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It's interesting that the mission makes you defend three entries while pushing through four and never officially telling you about the attack on the fourth.
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Apr 21, 2020 17:13
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Name one squad One Day to Retirement so we know who won't be missed by the enemy fire.
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Apr 21, 2020 17:20
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A fighting retreat gets a lot nastier when rear attacks do extra damage. Is there a way to make units REVERSE to a destination or will they always turn around and drive forwards towards it?
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Apr 21, 2020 19:09
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Nope. You can have them turn whatever direction you want once they get there, but there is no 'just back up' movement.anilEhilated posted:Name one squad One Day to Retirement so we know who won't be missed by the enemy fire. They'll be in the next mission which I'm working on now. Also, if anyone's wondering how long a squad name can be; this just barely fits. Anything longer is probably not going to work. Strategic Sage fucked around with this message at 19:41 on Apr 21, 2020 |
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Apr 21, 2020 19:36
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I really get the feeling the game could use a remake with a better interface. It almost screams that it wants to be remade in Wargame: Red Dragon.
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Apr 21, 2020 21:02
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SIGSEGV posted:I really get the feeling the game could use a remake with a better interface. It almost screams that it wants to be remade in Wargame: Red Dragon. If nothing else, just firing arc/line indicators before unleashing a special weapon to ensure that your squad doesn't just slam all their limited-use ammo into a hillside right in front of them.
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Apr 21, 2020 21:29
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Always thought this was a weird mission because I feel like I totally could have taken on whatever enemies come along when you're told to retreat, especially with Thomas' AA guns hanging around to kill bombers. Anyways outside of facing aerodynes with nothing capable of shooting back torpedo infantry are one of the most dangerous enemies in the game, bar one.
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Apr 22, 2020 05:40
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Torpedo infantry are extremely rude. They fire their missiles upwards from special backpacks, making them excellent at ambushes and hiding in amongst buildings. I'm not sure if this game models top armour but it always seemed like they were ripping through my units' HP at a terrifying rate.
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Apr 22, 2020 11:00
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Kibayasu posted:Always thought this was a weird mission because I feel like I totally could have taken on whatever enemies come along when you're told to retreat, especially with Thomas' AA guns hanging around to kill bombers. Anyways outside of facing aerodynes with nothing capable of shooting back torpedo infantry are one of the most dangerous enemies in the game, bar one. There's definitely the signs of some of these problems in the mission design, such as this, where the scripting feels too forced. The 'counterattack' earlier was another one, in which the Order decided not to actually attack your base, but instead keep a ton of units in reserve so they could ambush you piecemeal when you came to destroy their base. I think it's what leads the player to start to distrust not only their 'intel' but the whole premise of each mission because they start to expect the game to trick them. This one I found a bit frustrating simply because I assumed you had to try and save Thomas, and I'd stick around for too long. If you do follow orders for once it does turn out to be okay, it seems. Kangra fucked around with this message at 15:49 on Apr 22, 2020 |
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Apr 22, 2020 15:44
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Loxbourne posted:I'm not sure if this game models top armour but it always seemed like they were ripping through my units' HP at a terrifying rate. It only has two vectors, front and rear. Otherwhise though you're definitely right. If they're shooting off their rockets,, you're already in trouble. Templar might be a one-trick pony, but it's an awfully scary trick they have and as mentioned only your infantry are safe from them.
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Apr 25, 2020 15:19
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Jungle Purification (37:49) Some of you have been waiting patiently to hold forth on artillery. Now's your chance, as we get our hands on the HOG terradyne variant for this mission. It's a jarring shift from the defeat in the last mission to one where we can really throw our weight around. Once again, the intel briefing is wrong and the game pushes you towards a really stupid way of attacking this operation as well … which I do not follow because I like minimizing idiocy in combat zones. This is also the point in the game where the missions start getting quite a bit longer consistently, and while there was pretty much constant action in this one more frequent time-skipping on the slow maneuvering sections will soon become a thing. At the end, a demonstration of how scary aerodynes can be if you take too long here as well. Available Squads Headhunters (Terradyne) Hungry Lions (Terradyne) Massive Roughnecks (Terradyne) Note that I can switch these back and forth between artillery and standard armor roles as I wish at this point. Strategic Sage fucked around with this message at 15:26 on Apr 25, 2020 |
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Apr 25, 2020 15:24
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God does fight on the side with the best artillery. Note that they are using rocket assisted propulsion shells, going by the red flare that appears a little bit after launch. It's a bit ridiculous going by the actual range, but that's common enough in RTS games. It was far more ridiculous in world in conflict, though. The game started the joke so I'll finish it, please rename the The Massive Roughnecks to The Army Strong. SIGSEGV fucked around with this message at 01:18 on Apr 26, 2020 |
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Apr 26, 2020 00:13
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I wonder what the unit names are in other languages? Presumably the Swedish army has its own collection of wry references and injokes. I never had a problem with artillery's power in this game. In the words of the classic quote, artillery wins wars. The only issue is that it makes players less likely to take any other units, so some interesting stuff in the faction rosters sits unused because the slots are used for artillery all the time. ANNIE-1 mentions it when the power station goes up, but if you kill the voltage houses in each gun installation then the attached turrets can no longer fire. This and the dug-in SAM sites in the hills are actually holdovers from an earlier version of this mission, which formed the game's demo. Here they're just artillery bait, but in the demo version you could take a different unit mix. That made the back route a bit more viable, at least. And yes we've now met the Order heavy hoverdyne. It's decidedly lacklustre. Higher rate of fire than the Medium and a heavier punch but it's one Order unit that has to engage your gunline to do its job and MBTs just blast it to pieces.
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Apr 26, 2020 13:49
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I think the artillery in this game is what turned me into a turtling RTS player. It is just so ridiculously effective to just wait around (most times) to just wait around while the HOGs do their thing.
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Apr 26, 2020 23:57
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The most important thing to do if you're facing artillery is to keep moving at all times. The long lag time between firing and impact means its very difficult to hit a moving target, but if you stand still you're dead.
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Apr 27, 2020 00:22
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Mine eyes have seen the glory of the firing of the Hogs We will rain down fire till every structure's reduced to smoking logs The remainder of our forces simply serve as armored clogs The artillery come raining down! These artillery pieces fundamentally altered my relationship with rts games. It's still glorious now, when none of this feels new and shiny.
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Apr 27, 2020 03:32
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