Total Annihilation - First Impression >>> BORING!!
Don M. Bizub
I just go home and installed TA. Here are my initial observations.
Box & Packaging: Obviously rushed out.
Documentation: A let down after Dark Reign. Just a flimsy Black & White
booklet with only about 15 pages actually devoted to gameplay. The "story"
is a paragraph long.
Install: GREAT! only 33megs, movies ran fine, not a crash yet. (although
the game abruptly ends at the end of each mission and it initially looks
like a crash but then the full screen picture pops up signifying that you
are done, I kind of wish it was a "Mission Complete, click OK box" so I
could continue to view my victory.
I have only played the first three missions. I hope to soon retract the
following statement.
This Game Is Boring!
Let me say that this is an unfair assessment of TA since I have not read the
manual and I am just ad-libing the missions, but compared to Dark Reign, the
initial excitement isn't there. The game lacks an obvious tutorial and it
is hard to distinguish units. Also, When you group them, I so far see no
way of checking their health status, you can only view that one unit at a
time (I must be missing something) really hope I am wrong about this. I
will read the manual and try a few more missions before I take it back to
EB.
Hopefully my lack of enjoyment is based on my laziness regarding the manual.
My point is that with DR, I seemed to be able to "jump right in"
I think the new Red Alert Mission disk is coming out soon, so far that sound
more exciting than Total Annihilation.
Don Biz
don...@ix.netcom.com
--
Don Biz
don...@ix.netcom.com
Thread Killer
Don M. Bizub wrote:
>
> I just go home and installed TA. Here are my initial observations.
>
>
> Let me say that this is an unfair assessment of TA since I have not read the
> manual and I am just ad-libing the missions, but compared to Dark Reign, the
> initial excitement isn't there. The game lacks an obvious tutorial and it
> is hard to distinguish units. Also, When you group them, I so far see no
> way of checking their health status, you can only view that one unit at a
> time (I must be missing something) really hope I am wrong about this. I
> will read the manual and try a few more missions before I take it back to
> EB.
looks like the game was rushed out the door. The documentation is thin;
no on line help; impossible to determine what exactly the different
storage buildings are actually doing (i.e., how much energy/metal each
holds,etc.) I haven't played much longer then an hour, but it didn't
really hold my interest enough -- yet. I'll give it a few more days but
so far thumbs down (the graphics, while good, are not nearly as good as
AoE. In fact, there's little to differentiate between TA and Enemy
Nations, really .. )
>
Jeff Atwood
Funny, I had exactly the opposite reaction. Dark Reign is very slick, but I
had a nagging sense of "been there, done that" as I play it. I wouldn't call
it boring but once I dug into it I realized it's more of the same stuff,
just polished to a high sheen, play-balanced, and with lots of editors.
TA is exciting because the presentation is different from all the other RTS
games I've played, and it boils over into the gameplay as well. Now here's a
game where terrain actually *matters*! Really a fresh approach to the genre.
I agree that the manual and interface are not as good as DR. But I think the
issue here is that DR has an excellent manual (w/color pictures no less) and
an excellent interface. It's better than almost all games in that regard.
Jeff
Don M. Bizub wrote in article <6073hp$b...@sjx-ixn10.ix.netcom.com>...
> I just go home and installed TA. Here are my initial observations.
>
>Box & Packaging: Obviously rushed out.
>
>Documentation: A let down after Dark Reign. Just a flimsy Black & White
>booklet with only about 15 pages actually devoted to gameplay. The "story"
>is a paragraph long.
>
>Install: GREAT! only 33megs, movies ran fine, not a crash yet. (although
>the game abruptly ends at the end of each mission and it initially looks
>like a crash but then the full screen picture pops up signifying that you
>are done, I kind of wish it was a "Mission Complete, click OK box" so I
>could continue to view my victory.
>
>I have only played the first three missions. I hope to soon retract the
>following statement.
>
>This Game Is Boring!
>
>Let me say that this is an unfair assessment of TA since I have not read
the
>manual and I am just ad-libing the missions, but compared to Dark Reign,
the
>initial excitement isn't there. The game lacks an obvious tutorial and it
>is hard to distinguish units. Also, When you group them, I so far see no
>way of checking their health status, you can only view that one unit at a
>time (I must be missing something) really hope I am wrong about this. I
>will read the manual and try a few more missions before I take it back to
>EB.
>
Don M. Bizub
Thread Killer wrote in article <342719...@bigfoot.com>...
>Don M. Bizub wrote:
>>
>> I just go home and installed TA. Here are my initial observations.
>>
>>(some editing)
>>
>> Let me say that this is an unfair assessment of TA since I have not read
the
>> manual and I am just ad-libing the missions, but compared to Dark Reign,
the
>> initial excitement isn't there. The game lacks an obvious tutorial and
it
>> is hard to distinguish units. Also, When you group them, I so far see no
>> way of checking their health status, you can only view that one unit at a
>> time (I must be missing something) really hope I am wrong about this. I
>> will read the manual and try a few more missions before I take it back to
>> EB.
>Reading the manual won't help. It just summarizes the units. I agree, it
>looks like the game was rushed out the door. The documentation is thin;
>no on line help; impossible to determine what exactly the different
>storage buildings are actually doing (i.e., how much energy/metal each
>holds,etc.) I haven't played much longer then an hour, but it didn't
>really hold my interest enough -- yet. I'll give it a few more days but
>so far thumbs down (the graphics, while good, are not nearly as good as
>AoE. In fact, there's little to differentiate between TA and Enemy
>Nations, really .. )
I just finished the manual and am amazed at how lacking it is. I am off to
play a bit more (although I have to admit, I am inclined to play a little DR
first), hoping my first impression is mistaken.
Don Biz
don...@ix.netcom.com
Don M. Bizub
Nathan Eberhart wrote in article <01bcc7e0$4c4dcc60$8a1eaacc@nathan-s>...
>Don M. Bizub <don...@ix.netcom.com> wrote in article
><6073hp$b...@sjx-ixn10.ix.netcom.com>...
>> I have only played the first three missions. I hope to soon retract the
>> following statement.
>>
>> This Game Is Boring!
>
>Boring? Why make a statement if you hope to retract it. Why put it in the
>subject heading?
A lot of people were requesting initial impressions, that was mine.
>I would have to say the game is EXHAUSTING. You can spend 2 hours winning
>on one map.
I hope the game hooks me eventually like DR did.
>The huge number of units & structures call for lots of decision
>making.
Unfortuanly they all look alike and are rather bland overall. I think DR's
units look cooler even if they are 2D.
> If you adjust the game speed up you can get overwhelmed. If you slow down
>the game speed the game plays completely different against the computer.
>It's nice you can change it on the fly.
Actually, I had to speed it up a bit (I am still on the early levels)
It also helps to turn off the music, it was putting me to sleep.
>> Let me say that this is an unfair assessment of TA since I have not read
>the
>> manual and I am just ad-libing the missions, but compared to Dark Reign,
>the
>> initial excitement isn't there. The game lacks an obvious tutorial and
>it
>> is hard to distinguish units. Also, When you group them, I so far see no
>> way of checking their health status, you can only view that one unit at a
>> time (I must be missing something) really hope I am wrong about this. I
>> will read the manual and try a few more missions before I take it back to
>> EB.
>You didn't read the manual or the readme files so you missed some features.
>The tilde key shows unit health and also shows its grouping number (very
>nice feature). The campaign you can play is a quick tutorial. It takes the
>approach of giving you more unit & building types each map. Units are hard
>to distinguish depending on what resolution you play at and of course your
>screen size. At 640x480 on a 21 inch monitor the units are easy to tell
>apart.
I have now read the manual (not much there) I will try to lower my
resolution a bit.
>> Hopefully my lack of enjoyment is based on my laziness regarding the
>manual.
>> My point is that with DR, I seemed to be able to "jump right in"
>
>I was able to jump right in with a very quick skim of the manual. If you
>have never played a RTS game before it might take you some time. Also the
>user interface is slightly different than previous RTS games. I wasn't
>sure about this game at first too. However after playing against one person
>thru Kali, I believe this game is HEAVILY geared towards multiplay. Also
>try playing at different game speeds.
I will try all of the above.
>The NetStorm demo I liked right away. I believe TA will grow on me after a
>few days. I did play it non-stop for 8 hours so... draw your own opinion.
I think the many hours of DR over the weekend have jaded me. I didn't have
the patience to learn a new game when it is so easy to boot up DR and
continue my assault! I guess this is why there was a race to release.
TA reminds me a lot of Tomb Raider. They are both state of the art and
stunning to look at, but also a little boring overall. Now I know the
gameplay has nothing in common, but the gut feeling of trying to like a game
because "I am suppose to appreciate the technology" remind me of forcing
myself through Populous.
>> I think the new Red Alert Mission disk is coming out soon, so far that
>sound
>> more exciting than Total Annihilation.
>>
>> Don Biz
>> don...@ix.netcom.com
>
>Oh yeah, an expansion pack is more exciting than a completely new game.
>Yeah, right.
I never really burned out on Red Alert. I still want more. Maybe that is
why Dark Reign fills my RTS need more than TA.
james
Press ~ and it shows the health status for every friendly unit. You
can also press 'F2" ( not F1 !) for a list of hot key.
I have played 4 missions so far. It becomes quite tough at 'hard'
difficulty. The graphics is excellent. The AI is Ok -- at least i had
to restart twice at mission 4, and there are 25 missions for each
side! Haven't tried naval and air unit yet.
Normally you can have as many units as you want ( up to 200 maybe).
But here comes one problem: I can hardly control so many units. Up
till now there's no combined arm strategy. Last mission (4) i built 40
tanks and rushed enemy base. --- maybe it's just me.
James
On Mon, 22 Sep 1997 17:36:45 -0700, "Don M. Bizub"
<don...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> I just go home and installed TA. Here are my initial observations.
>
>Box & Packaging: Obviously rushed out.
>
>Documentation: A let down after Dark Reign. Just a flimsy Black & White
>booklet with only about 15 pages actually devoted to gameplay. The "story"
>is a paragraph long.
>
>Install: GREAT! only 33megs, movies ran fine, not a crash yet. (although
>the game abruptly ends at the end of each mission and it initially looks
>like a crash but then the full screen picture pops up signifying that you
>are done, I kind of wish it was a "Mission Complete, click OK box" so I
>could continue to view my victory.
>
>I have only played the first three missions. I hope to soon retract the
>following statement.
>
>This Game Is Boring!
>
>Let me say that this is an unfair assessment of TA since I have not read the
>manual and I am just ad-libing the missions, but compared to Dark Reign, the
>initial excitement isn't there. The game lacks an obvious tutorial and it
>is hard to distinguish units. Also, When you group them, I so far see no
>way of checking their health status, you can only view that one unit at a
>time (I must be missing something) really hope I am wrong about this. I
>will read the manual and try a few more missions before I take it back to
>EB.
>
>Hopefully my lack of enjoyment is based on my laziness regarding the manual.
>My point is that with DR, I seemed to be able to "jump right in"
>
>I think the new Red Alert Mission disk is coming out soon, so far that sound
>more exciting than Total Annihilation.
>
>Don Biz
>don...@ix.netcom.com
>
>
>
>--
>Don Biz
>don...@ix.netcom.com
>
>
>
Sharbel Lutfallah
I too have only played the first 3 missions, and have to disagree with you
(so far)... This game is much better than Dark Reign... Dark reign bored
the hell out of me (the 4 days that I had it)... I returned it today for
Total Annihilation and I am glad tha I did.. I mean both of them did not
make my jaw drop..... but Dark Reign was IMHO very much of the same old
stuff... there wasn;t enough units to choose from, and the units
(especially the infantry) are VERY small... Also, the units in Dark Reign
seem to just die very fast... without even being able to use them much,
they just kinda disappear... I like it in TA that your units explode and
cause damage to the surrounding units (more realistic).. also I LOVE the
fact that you can reclaim your dead units, and your opponents for that
matter, and use them for Metal.
Thats all I can comment about right now, since I have only played for
1.5 hours... tommorow I can post a qualified review of the game if you guys
want....
Sharbel
Don M. Bizub <don...@ix.netcom.com> wrote in article
<6073hp$b...@sjx-ixn10.ix.netcom.com>...
Nathan Eberhart
Don M. Bizub <don...@ix.netcom.com> wrote in article
<6073hp$b...@sjx-ixn10.ix.netcom.com>...
> I just go home and installed TA. Here are my initial observations.
>
> Box & Packaging: Obviously rushed out.
>
> Documentation: A let down after Dark Reign. Just a flimsy Black & White
> booklet with only about 15 pages actually devoted to gameplay. The
"story"
> is a paragraph long.
The manual is small. Detail stats on the units are not included anywhere. I
seldom care about the backstory so this doesn't matter to me.
>
> Install: GREAT! only 33megs, movies ran fine, not a crash yet.
(although
> the game abruptly ends at the end of each mission and it initially looks
> like a crash but then the full screen picture pops up signifying that you
> are done, I kind of wish it was a "Mission Complete, click OK box" so I
> could continue to view my victory.
The install was nice and considerate. You have to run the DirectX5 install
yourself. The game does not do it for you. This is an interesting way to
handle the entire DirectX issue. :)
>
> I have only played the first three missions. I hope to soon retract the
> following statement.
>
> This Game Is Boring!
Boring? Why make a statement if you hope to retract it. Why put it in the
subject heading?
I would have to say the game is EXHAUSTING. You can spend 2 hours winning
on one map. The huge number of units & structures call for lots of decision
making.
If you adjust the game speed up you can get overwhelmed. If you slow down
the game speed the game plays completely different against the computer.
It's nice you can change it on the fly.
>
> Let me say that this is an unfair assessment of TA since I have not read
the
> manual and I am just ad-libing the missions, but compared to Dark Reign,
the
> initial excitement isn't there. The game lacks an obvious tutorial and
it
> is hard to distinguish units. Also, When you group them, I so far see no
> way of checking their health status, you can only view that one unit at a
> time (I must be missing something) really hope I am wrong about this. I
> will read the manual and try a few more missions before I take it back to
> EB.
You didn't read the manual or the readme files so you missed some features.
The tilde key shows unit health and also shows its grouping number (very
nice feature). The campaign you can play is a quick tutorial. It takes the
approach of giving you more unit & building types each map. Units are hard
to distinguish depending on what resolution you play at and of course your
screen size. At 640x480 on a 21 inch monitor the units are easy to tell
apart.
>
> Hopefully my lack of enjoyment is based on my laziness regarding the
manual.
> My point is that with DR, I seemed to be able to "jump right in"
I was able to jump right in with a very quick skim of the manual. If you
have never played a RTS game before it might take you some time. Also the
user interface is slightly different than previous RTS games. I wasn't
sure about this game at first too. However after playing against one person
thru Kali, I believe this game is HEAVILY geared towards multiplay. Also
try playing at different game speeds.
The NetStorm demo I liked right away. I believe TA will grow on me after a
few days. I did play it non-stop for 8 hours so... draw your own opinion.
>
> I think the new Red Alert Mission disk is coming out soon, so far that
sound
> more exciting than Total Annihilation.
>
> Don Biz
> don...@ix.netcom.com
Oh yeah, an expansion pack is more exciting than a completely new game.
Yeah, right.
Nathan
Tim Chown
Don M. Bizub wrote:
>
> This Game Is Boring!
I would guess you're playing the Core campaign? This does start dull.
Try Arm and wait for about missions 5-8 at sea...
> Also, When you group them, I so far see no
> way of checking their health status, you can only view that one unit at a
> time (I must be missing something)
You are - the ~ key (or the one left of '1' on UK keyboards) will
show health bars for everything.
--
Tim Chown | The Games Domain Review 900+ reviews!
Strategy Editor | http://www.gamesdomain.com/gdreview (USA)
stra...@gamesdomain.com | http://www.gamesdomain.co.uk/gdreview (UK)
Rob "Xemu" Fermier
The tilde (~) key will toggle on health bars under all the units, as well
as showing you what hotkey-group the unit belongs to. I can see why they
defaulted it off though, it's super-hard to tell what is what with it on.
It's good to toggle on and off quickly to assess the state of a battle,
though.
On the whole I can't decide whether I like TA enough to play it instead of
DR, though I imagine I'll play both through eventually... :-) TA feels
much more ... solid. Like it's an actual simulation of a battle field
somehow. I like the orders system in TA at least as much as the system in
DR, it's nice in that regard, definitely.
I find it really hard to tell what my units are going to do sometime,
specifically artillery. A lot of times it seems like my artillery can take
easy shots but they run around when I order them to attack, not sure what
is going on precisely.
I was pleasantly surprised to find in TA a lot of unit-level AI orders akin
to DR, like the unit's wandering freedom and fire control. I really wish
you could set your construction vehicles to go around repairing wounded
units automatically... :-(
-- Rob "Xemu" Fermier
Irrational Games, Inc.
xe...@earthlink.net
Lost Dragon
>But here comes one problem: I can hardly control so many units. Up
>till now there's no combined arm strategy. Last mission (4) i built 40
>tanks and rushed enemy base. --- maybe it's just me.
Can more people comment on this? I hate tank rushing and am not eager
to buy another "tank rush" game.
/| .oo__. .-----.------Lost Dragon Software------.-----. .__oo. |\
{ \| ,-'' | _O_ | Member: UDIC lost...@cris.com | _O_ | ``-, |/ }
`,_/,(_)\_ | | | http://www.cris.com/~lostdrgn/ | | | _/(_),\_,'
<...{_)_)_''`-----`-Official Dungeon Bane Web Page-'-----'``_(_(_}...>
Cmdr Krud
james <Ja...@psu.edu> wrote in article
<3427458d...@news.zippo.com>...
> Press ~ and it shows the health status for every friendly unit. You
> can also press 'F2" ( not F1 !) for a list of hot key.
>
> I have played 4 missions so far. It becomes quite tough at 'hard'
> difficulty. The graphics is excellent. The AI is Ok -- at least i had
> to restart twice at mission 4, and there are 25 missions for each
> side! Haven't tried naval and air unit yet.
>
> Normally you can have as many units as you want ( up to 200 maybe).
> till now there's no combined arm strategy. Last mission (4) i built 40
> tanks and rushed enemy base. --- maybe it's just me.
>
I agree. I've played the first 4 missions and several skirmishes and
combined arms are not important in this game. You can win the early
scenarios with just one type of unit.
On mission 3, playing ARM, I recovered 2 of the spiders but the mission
wouldn't end. I finally sent the spiders back to the area where I
initially found them, then brought them back to my base and the mission
finally ended. Could be a bug (no pun intended).
-Krud
Patrick C Miller
Cmdr Krud (au...@primenet.com) wrote:
: On mission 3, playing ARM, I recovered 2 of the spiders but the mission
: wouldn't end. I finally sent the spiders back to the area where I
: initially found them, then brought them back to my base and the mission
: finally ended. Could be a bug (no pun intended).
It's no bug. If you read the mission briefing carefully, you'll see
that one of the requirements of the mission is to bring one spider back to
your base.
But hey, I got all the way to the end of the first Galactic Gate mission
and couldn't remember whether I was supposed to save it or destroy it. I
destroyed it and went down to defeat. Now I make sure that I consult the
mission briefing frequently. :-)
*****************************
Patrick C. Miller
pami...@plains.NoDak.edu
*****************************
Cmdr Krud
Thread Killer <ga...@bigfoot.com> wrote in article
<342719...@bigfoot.com>...
> Reading the manual won't help. It just summarizes the units. I agree, it
> looks like the game was rushed out the door. The documentation is thin;
> no on line help; impossible to determine what exactly the different
> storage buildings are actually doing (i.e., how much energy/metal each
> holds,etc.) I haven't played much longer then an hour, but it didn't
> really hold my interest enough -- yet. I'll give it a few more days but
> so far thumbs down (the graphics, while good, are not nearly as good as
> AoE. In fact, there's little to differentiate between TA and Enemy
> Nations, really .. )
You lost me on that one. TA and Enemy Nations are completely different
types of games. The thing that I really like about TA is not so much the
graphics but the 3D environment. The terrain seems very realistic and the
way the units negotiate it seems very realistic as well. I can look at a
TA map and see exactly where my units can and can not go, where as with
Dark Reign it's not always that clear. I have to experiment sometimes. No
question that real 3D environments are more realistic and believable.
-Krud
Tim
That is sort of an odd question. If you send in multiple groups to clear a
path to the base then overwhelm the base with superior numbers is it a tank
rush? I have found that in TA it is hard to do a tank rush. Maybe it's
just me. I tend to group units like kbots together with tanks. Tanks are
slow bots are quick. I like balanced groups. The laser turrents in TA are
brutal! They have a really long range so you have to take them out with
artillary. The AI does'nt just stand around either if you bring in a big
force, they will have rocket launchers pounding you from far off. (like on
a hill, I love the terrain!).
In the few base missions I played, I had to strategically take out sections
of the AI's base to get in. So, do tank rushes work? Not really sure yet.
Lost Dragon <lost...@cris.com> wrote in article
<34365e2e...@news.concentric.net>...
> >But here comes one problem: I can hardly control so many units. Up
> >till now there's no combined arm strategy. Last mission (4) i built 40
> >tanks and rushed enemy base. --- maybe it's just me.
>
Cmdr Krud
Rob "Xemu" Fermier <xe...@earthlink.net> wrote in article
<01bcc7d2$76cae800$fd02...@xemu.earthlink.net>...
> I was pleasantly surprised to find in TA a lot of unit-level AI orders
akin
> to DR, like the unit's wandering freedom and fire control. I really
wish
> you could set your construction vehicles to go around repairing wounded
> units automatically... :-(
>
> -- Rob "Xemu" Fermier
> Irrational Games, Inc.
> xe...@earthlink.net
You can. Set them to patrol and they will repair any damaged units they
encounter.
-Krud
Darrin M. Conant
On Mon, 22 Sep 1997 20:16:29 -0700, "Don M. Bizub"
<don...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> Thread Killer wrote in article <342719...@bigfoot.com>...
>
>>Don M. Bizub wrote:
>>>
>>> I just go home and installed TA. Here are my initial observations.
>>>
>>>(some editing)
>>>
>>> Let me say that this is an unfair assessment of TA since I have not read
>the
>>> manual and I am just ad-libing the missions, but compared to Dark Reign,
>the
>>> initial excitement isn't there. The game lacks an obvious tutorial and
>it
>>> is hard to distinguish units. Also, When you group them, I so far see no
>>> way of checking their health status, you can only view that one unit at a
>>> time (I must be missing something) really hope I am wrong about this. I
>>> will read the manual and try a few more missions before I take it back to
>>> EB.
There is an option you can check to the standard bar graphic for every
unit. I think you have to press F2 to get to it. I'm kind a surprised
that you'd go back to Dark Reign. I had the opposite opinion. I didn't
care for Dark Reign's bland units, but figured that eventually people
would make some cool expansions by modifying the graphics and units.
Even their new units aren't that exciting, spys that morph into the
background are cool, but not life altering, etc.
>>Reading the manual won't help. It just summarizes the units. I agree, it
>>looks like the game was rushed out the door. The documentation is thin;
>>no on line help; impossible to determine what exactly the different
>>storage buildings are actually doing (i.e., how much energy/metal each
>>holds,etc.) I haven't played much longer then an hour, but it didn't
>>really hold my interest enough -- yet. I'll give it a few more days but
>>so far thumbs down (the graphics, while good, are not nearly as good as
>>AoE. In fact, there's little to differentiate between TA and Enemy
>>Nations, really .. )
Odd, I thought that the graphics between AoE and TA were comparable.
The only problem with TA's graphics is that while they are some of the
most realistic I have ever seen, It is difficult to determine what the
valid build sites are (which is realistic) and there are times I'd
like to be able to clear out trees wholesale. There may be others I'll
run into in other battles.
>I just finished the manual and am amazed at how lacking it is. I am off to
>play a bit more (although I have to admit, I am inclined to play a little DR
>first), hoping my first impression is mistaken.
>
>Don Biz
>don...@ix.netcom.com
The copy I got was promotional and didn't include a manual, so I don't
really understand some of the options for commands. Overall, I like TA
better. Here's why:
1) Unit diversity. - A lot battles aren't long enough to develop every
single unit type early on, so you need to specialize. I tend to prefer
Kbots since they are fast and accurate, others may have different
ideas... later in the scenario you can diversify, but in the beginning
you can't afford each of the four types of units (Kbots, vehicles, sea
and air). Each seems cabable by it's self but they have different ways
and "skill" or aptitude of accomplishing them.
2) Terrain that actually seems to matter. - I was totally baffled when
I got into my first fight trying to take a hill against the computer.
At first I didn't realize what was happening. I just got more and more
frustrated trying to send units up that hill. Then I realized that It
had never happened before like that and I enjoyed every minute of it.
It realistically ended up with me having to erect fortifications at
their extreme range (which the hill augmented) and send suicide
missions in to try to clear it out. Also the fact that wreckage can
become impassable terrain (depending on the thing destroyed) and
collected later made it even more fun. My highly maneuvarable Kbots
became useless since there were few places to maneuver.
3) The carryall is back! Everyone who played Dune 2 and missed the
carryall's from that game should be in for a treat. There is an air
and a sea unit that does similar thing. I don't think it works
automatically like in Dune 2, but it is there! For those not versed in
Real Time Strategy lore, Dune 2 was (I believe) the first real time
strategy game. The carryalls would fly around and pick up harvesters
and damaged units and return them to your base. The harvesters it
would even put back in the field where it found them.
Cons:
The main problem with TA's AI is that it seems to have trouble
deciding a clear path. It wasn't as bad as Command and Conquer's
harvester's AI, but it can be annoying. The problems are more with
immediate obstacle negotiation that overall movement.
The main shortcoming of the game that Dark Reign does better is that
Dark Reign allows the player to save way point paths, and gives more
options for general orders, like harass or seek and destroy. This way
you can just put a unit on harass and it will act independently and
return (if it can) when it becomes damaged. Unfortunately (in DR),
against three computer opponents you still can't tell a unit who to
harass.
Please remove the asterisks when replying.
dconant*@stny.lrun.com
The Voice
In article <34277C...@gamesdomain.com>, Tim Chown <stra...@gamesdomain.com> says:
>
>Don M. Bizub wrote:
>>
>> This Game Is Boring!
>
>I would guess you're playing the Core campaign? This does start dull.
>Try Arm and wait for about missions 5-8 at sea...
>
>> way of checking their health status, you can only view that one unit at a
>> time (I must be missing something)
>
>show health bars for everything.
That is called the TILDA key (~)
Jeff Atwood
No.. the spiders need to be RIGHT next to your base buildings. I just kept
moving them to the buildings until I found the one they wanted.
Jeff
Cmdr Krud wrote in article
<01bcc81f$f58c8660$0296...@primenet.primenet.com>...
>james <Ja...@psu.edu> wrote in article
><3427458d...@news.zippo.com>...
>> Press ~ and it shows the health status for every friendly unit. You
>> can also press 'F2" ( not F1 !) for a list of hot key.
>>
>> I have played 4 missions so far. It becomes quite tough at 'hard'
>> difficulty. The graphics is excellent. The AI is Ok -- at least i had
>> to restart twice at mission 4, and there are 25 missions for each
>> side! Haven't tried naval and air unit yet.
>>
>> Normally you can have as many units as you want ( up to 200 maybe).
>> But here comes one problem: I can hardly control so many units. Up
>> till now there's no combined arm strategy. Last mission (4) i built 40
>> tanks and rushed enemy base. --- maybe it's just me.
>>
>> James
>
>I agree. I've played the first 4 missions and several skirmishes and
>combined arms are not important in this game. You can win the early
>scenarios with just one type of unit.
>
>On mission 3, playing ARM, I recovered 2 of the spiders but the mission
>wouldn't end. I finally sent the spiders back to the area where I
>initially found them, then brought them back to my base and the mission
>finally ended. Could be a bug (no pun intended).
>
>-Krud
Thread Killer
You're right. No excuses on my part for making such a premature
observatation. Apologies! TA is fun (though hard!). While I prefer more
sedate gaming, the furious action that TA provides is a blast (no pun
intended!)
Jeff Atwood
Darrin M. Conant wrote in article <3428c9bc.2934906@news-server>...>
>The main shortcoming of the game that Dark Reign does better is that
>Dark Reign allows the player to save way point paths, and gives more
>options for general orders, like harass or seek and destroy. This way
>you can just put a unit on harass and it will act independently and
>return (if it can) when it becomes damaged. Unfortunately (in DR),
>against three computer opponents you still can't tell a unit who to
>harass.
>
>Please remove the asterisks when replying.
>dconant*@stny.lrun.com
Yes, but these features are so poorly implemented in DR that they are
basically useless. Harass doesn't work on groups, much less formations.
Damage repair does not return the unit to what it was doing last.
Jeff
Lost Dragon
>Yes, but these features are so poorly implemented in DR that they are
>basically useless. Harass doesn't work on groups, much less formations.
>Damage repair does not return the unit to what it was doing last.
You keep harping on that over and over. Those things were both
considered in development and rejected!
1) Harass/S&D in groups makes the game pointless. It takes the player
out of the game and allows the computer to do everything.
2) How is this supposed to work? If a unit immediately goes back to
where it was after being repaired, then it could be picked off by
defenses. What if you don't want the units to go back after being
repaired? There would be just as many - more actually - problems
with this "feature" you so desperately want than there would be with
the way it is now.
Rob Dunlop
What's probably happening is TA has detected you have a crappy video
card so it cuts out all the cool features.
Sorry Don couldn't resist:)
Rob (I really hope you're wrong by the way.. maybe multiplay is better)
Don M. Bizub wrote:
> This Game Is Boring! etc
Cmdr Krud
Jeff Atwood <jat...@a.crl.com> wrote in article
<609463$bt5$1...@nnrp2.crl.com>...
> No.. the spiders need to be RIGHT next to your base buildings. I just
kept
> moving them to the buildings until I found the one they wanted.
>
> Jeff
>
> Cmdr Krud wrote in article
> <01bcc81f$f58c8660$0296...@primenet.primenet.com>...
> >combined arms are not important in this game. You can win the early
> >scenarios with just one type of unit.
> >
> >On mission 3, playing ARM, I recovered 2 of the spiders but the mission
> >wouldn't end. I finally sent the spiders back to the area where I
> >initially found them, then brought them back to my base and the mission
> >finally ended. Could be a bug (no pun intended).
> >
> >-Krud
I had them right next to my headquarters and then moved them all over my
base but the mission wouldn't end. After I moved them around the map and
then moved them back to my base I got the Victory screen. Must have been
something I didn't do though, if it hasn't happened to anyone else. I
setup my base just below the "Dragon's Teeth" things.
-Krud
Jeff Atwood
Lost Dragon wrote in article <342f38d5...@news.concentric.net>...
>>Yes, but these features are so poorly implemented in DR that they are
>>basically useless. Harass doesn't work on groups, much less formations.
>>Damage repair does not return the unit to what it was doing last.
>
>You keep harping on that over and over. Those things were both
>considered in development and rejected!
>
Thanks for not giving me a choice. I'm not the only guy posting about this!
But since you clearly know everything, I don't know why you bother
responding.
>1) Harass/S&D in groups makes the game pointless. It takes the player
>out of the game and allows the computer to do everything.
>
No, what's pointless is the skirmish AI in Dark Reign. I *hardly* think the
computer-assisted S&D and Harass groups will win the game for me, given that
the enemy AI itself can't possibly win the game against me. And besides, I
don't want/need them to be very smart, just to attack the enemy TOGETHER.
What, I ask you, is the point of harass or S&D with A SINGLE UNIT? Is it
useful for ANYTHING? Select a group of mercenaries, click harass-- and they
all head in different directions! Now if that isn't fucking stupid, I don't
know what is. Only a moron would attack with a single unit in this game!
You can't possibly be defending the total lack of logic behind this "design
choice".
>2) How is this supposed to work? If a unit immediately goes back to
>where it was after being repaired, then it could be picked off by
>defenses. What if you don't want the units to go back after being
>repaired? There would be just as many - more actually - problems
>with this "feature" you so desperately want than there would be with
>the way it is now.
>
You are so wrong. It's CONFIGURABLE. Give me a CHOICE. For defense this is a
no-brainer. Combined with medium independence, the units could move in a
limited range when attacked, repair and return.
alan...@gil.com.au
.
> Damage repair does not return the unit to what it was doing last.
>
Actually, that's not true. In DR, you can tell units that are healed or
rearmed to return to battle. Simply select the building (repair bay,
hospital, rearming deck, or any production facility) and hit the 'home'
key (or 'set exit point' in the Special menu) and select the area where
you want the units to return using the cursor. In this way, if you
select 'low damage tolerance' for your units, they will automatically go
to your base to be healed and then return to the front lines to rejoin
the battle.
-------------------==== Posted via Deja News ====-----------------------
http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Post to Usenet
Lost Dragon
>Yes, but only for ONE location; I'd have to build multiple repair bays for
>this to work in several places. This is a workaround (ie *I* have to do more
<sigh>
As has been mentioned about a thousand times already, having units
automatically return to where they were before they were injured was
tried and removed because it didn't work the way players would have
wanted. Maybe they'll put it back in - who knows.
But for criminy's sake, can you stop harping on it? Every freaking
message you write mentions that. If you hate the game so much return
it already!
Jeff Atwood
Yes, but only for ONE location; I'd have to build multiple repair bays for
this to work in several places. This is a workaround (ie *I* have to do more
promised us they would be!
Jeff
alan...@gil.com.au wrote in article <8750767...@dejanews.com>...
Philo
On Wed, 24 Sep 1997 09:43:47 GMT, lost...@cris.com (Lost Dragon) wrote:
| >Yes, but only for ONE location; I'd have to build multiple repair bays for
| >this to work in several places. This is a workaround (ie *I* have to do more
|
| <sigh>
|
| As has been mentioned about a thousand times already, having units
| automatically return to where they were before they were injured was
| tried and removed because it didn't work the way players would have
| wanted. Maybe they'll put it back in - who knows.
While I wouldn't harp on it <grin>, I'd like to see it enabled this way- a
right-click menu for selected units, with two options:
"Repair and Return"
"Repair and Remain"
Lets you choose on the fly.
Philo
Finger for public key ph...@radix.net
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Tilting at windmills hurts you more than the windmills.
-Lazarus Long
Dave Dubeau
In article <342ce03d...@news.concentric.net>,
Lost Dragon <lost...@cris.com> wrote:
>>Yes, but only for ONE location; I'd have to build multiple repair bays for
>>this to work in several places. This is a workaround (ie *I* have to do more
>
><sigh>
>
>As has been mentioned about a thousand times already, having units
>automatically return to where they were before they were injured was
>tried and removed because it didn't work the way players would have
>wanted. Maybe they'll put it back in - who knows.
>
>message you write mentions that. If you hate the game so much return
>it already!
Shhhh, he's on a crusade. Remember the C&C is better than Warcraft
and the Warcraft is better than C&C fanatics? Jeff is clearly
going to be in the new camp of 'TA is better than DR' Soon
enough there will be a group of 'DR is better than TA' fanatics.
As always both groups will be convinced they are right and the only
thing stopping a holy war will be the fact that everyone is so
spread out and mixed geographically. I'm just glad they're not
wasting their time on a stupid crusade against world hunger,
war or the destruction of the environment or something else
less important than how 'good' a game is.
Let him go. Personally if that's the best complaint he can come
up with, I'm going to buy the game for sure. Nyah-haaah!
On the other hand I'll probably end up getting TA too and then
making up my own mind. I'll try not to share my opinion though.
Oh yeah, 'C&C is clearly better than Tetris!'
There, that oughta divert this thread. :-)
Lost Dragon
>Oh yeah, 'C&C is clearly better than Tetris!'
What, are you kidding? Tetris has rotating unit types with vertical
attacks! That's awesome. It's the best game ever! I bought 400
copies alone! The line of sight is brilliant. It's so complex, it
can't be seen! I'm impressed by this game beyond belief! Help me!
I'm exclaiming! And! I! Can't! Stop!
>There, that oughta divert this thread. :-)
Naughty you, diverting my attention from the nasty crusader :).
I'm picking up TA tonight and fully intend to keep both games.
Peter N Ivanov
In article <609reg$gmf$1...@nnrp2.crl.com>, "Jeff Atwood" <jat...@a.crl.com> writes:
> Lost Dragon wrote in article <342f38d5...@news.concentric.net>...
>
> >>Yes, but these features are so poorly implemented in DR that they are
> >>basically useless. Harass doesn't work on groups, much less formations.
> >
> > { \| ,-'' | _O_ | Member: UDIC lost...@cris.com | _O_ | ``-, |/ }
> > `,_/,(_)\_ | | | http://www.cris.com/~lostdrgn/ | | | _/(_),\_,'
> ><...{_)_)_''`-----`-Official Dungeon Bane Web Page-'-----'``_(_(_}...>
>
>
Well, here is a guy who does not know what he is talking about.
Absolutely nothing. I think I'm going to get personal. Have you ever
played a game against someone who with a living brain? Or even with
someone who knew how to get an accelerator? Infantry is killed with
one shot before it gets into range. Harass and search and destroy are
extremly useful, but only in two periods of the game. Early game, when
I would rather be building my base, and late game when I am hunting the
enemy down. Having AI that would harrass a human without losing three
time the enemy losses' cost is a dream for the computing power involved.
As for your repair comments and attack while grouped comments, they
clearly show that you have never played against enemy artillery.
Why don't you play a game before you comment on it, or why don't
you say 'I looked at it, I did not like it' This is what I am saying
for Total Anihilation, and I think that I have not spent enough time
on it to say more.
Or you did spent some time on it?
Then, I am sorry to say it, but you are simply not cut out for RT games.
And I would not mind demonstrating the Dark Reign AI to you.
I play DR by the name of 'Imperial Scum'
Peter
--------------------------------
- These useless lines are the -
- result of the brilliant idea -
- that some rocket scientist -
- had. My news server wants -
- me to write more text than -
- I am including. When I see -
- nothing I can snip, this -
- results in increased waste -
- of bandwith. I hope the -
- genius who is forcing me to -
- do this reads it. -
--------------------------------
--------------------------------
- These useless lines are the -
- result of the brilliant idea -
- that some rocket scientist -
- had. My news server wants -
- me to write more text than -
- I am including. When I see -
- nothing I can snip, this -
- results in increased waste -
- of bandwith. I hope the -
- genius who is forcing me to -
- do this reads it. -
--------------------------------
James Dusek
Dave Dubeau wrote:
> and the Warcraft is better than C&C fanatics? Jeff is clearly
> going to be in the new camp of 'TA is better than DR' Soon
> enough there will be a group of 'DR is better than TA' fanatics.
> As always both groups will be convinced they are right and the only
> thing stopping a holy war will be the fact that everyone is so
> spread out and mixed geographically. I'm just glad they're not
Hey, lets all get together in LA and have a big war and trash
the place. It's not like anyone would notice. :)
Both games do some things better than the other, so it depends
on what you like. Some people will like both games, some will hate
both games and the rest will fall into one camp or the other. What I
do like about DR the most is it runs better on low end computers.
James Dusek
James Dusek
Jeff Atwood wrote:
>
> Yes, but only for ONE location; I'd have to build multiple repair bays for
> this to work in several places. This is a workaround (ie *I* have to do more
> promised us they would be!
IN some caes they are. In this case it most likely a case of
preferance. I do NOT want my units to return to where they were after
repairing. I keep a reserve, and pull from the reserve when damaged
units need to be sent back. Repaired units than become the reserve.
Although there are AI bugs in this game. I've seen units
charge the enemy and get into extreamly close range before blasting
away. Not nice when it's a rail tank and it just closed with 5 troops.
I've seen tanks get confused as to what to do when attacked, and just
sit around getting pounded.
So hopefully the AI is patched to fix these quirks. Than
DR will truely be awesome.
James Dusek
Jeff Atwood
Peter N Ivanov wrote in article <60c1j2$f...@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU>...>
>Well, here is a guy who does not know what he is talking about.
>Absolutely nothing. I think I'm going to get personal. Have you ever
>played a game against someone who with a living brain? Or even with
>someone who knew how to get an accelerator? Infantry is killed with
>one shot before it gets into range.
I've played LAN for 2 hours, singleplayer for about 8, and internet for
another 8. That's plenty of time to make judgments.
> Harass and search and destroy are
>extremly useful, but only in two periods of the game. Early game, when
>I would rather be building my base, and late game when I am hunting the
>enemy down.
Really? Pray tell how you use Search and Destroy to find a cloaked scout to
end the game. I'd really like to know. Because it's SO useful!
> Having AI that would harrass a human without losing three
>time the enemy losses' cost is a dream for the computing power involved.
>
Ever played a single player game against three computer AIs? Not too slow,
is it? Then I hardly imagine that some roving S&D *groups* would bring the
computer to its knees. Hell, send 100 individual units on S&D. Game doesn't
slow down at all.
>As for your repair comments and attack while grouped comments, they
>clearly show that you have never played against enemy artillery.
>Why don't you play a game before you comment on it, or why don't
>you say 'I looked at it, I did not like it' This is what I am saying
>for Total Anihilation, and I think that I have not spent enough time
>on it to say more.
>
I played it for about 18 hours and it doesn't do anything but take C&C, RA,
and WC2 and polish the gameplay and concepts. It's still very good, but
ultimately the same damn old thing. TA has real physics, real line of sight,
units with different physical sizes, veteran units, wind effects, etc. It is
the same old thing done *better*. Key difference. Read the TA FAQ at
http://www.totalannihilation.com/faq.html to find all the innovative things
that it does. DR is just more sprites running around with the same old bad
AI routines. If DR delivered on its AI promises (for both my units and
computer enemies), I'd like it a lot more.
>Or you did spent some time on it?
>
>Then, I am sorry to say it, but you are simply not cut out for RT games.
>
>And I would not mind demonstrating the Dark Reign AI to you.
I never said multiplayer wasn't balanced, it is. Although I think the
imperium has fewer useful units, they are roughly equal.
Jeff
Jeff Atwood
I don't hate the game, in fact I like it. What I hate is people defending a
"feature" that is clearly lacking. Just read the other posts from people who
agree with me-- we should be able to choose where a unit goes after it is
repaired.
What I hate even more than this is the fact that this game was advertised
with such great AI, and it's not even close. I'm not even counting the
hideous computer AI bug they shipped this game with. Without great AI, this
is simply Red Alert with playbalancing and interface improvements. Is that a
good thing? Depends what you're looking for, I suppose.
Jeff
Dave Dubeau wrote in article <60bgvl$g...@bcarh8ab.bnr.ca>...
>In article <342ce03d...@news.concentric.net>,
>Lost Dragon <lost...@cris.com> wrote:
>>>Yes, but only for ONE location; I'd have to build multiple repair bays
for
>>>this to work in several places. This is a workaround (ie *I* have to do
more
>>
>><sigh>
>>
>>As has been mentioned about a thousand times already, having units
>>automatically return to where they were before they were injured was
>>tried and removed because it didn't work the way players would have
>>wanted. Maybe they'll put it back in - who knows.
>>
>>But for criminy's sake, can you stop harping on it? Every freaking
>>message you write mentions that. If you hate the game so much return
>>it already!
>
>Shhhh, he's on a crusade. Remember the C&rcalC is better than Warcraft
>and the Warcraft is better than C&tcalC fanatics? Jeff is clearly
>going to be in the new camp of 'TA is better than DR' Soon
>enough there will be a group of 'DR is better than TA' fanatics.
>As always both groups will be convinced they are right and the only
>thing stopping a holy war will be the fact that everyone is so
>spread out and mixed geographically. I'm just glad they're not
>wasting their time on a stupid crusade against world hunger,
>war or the destruction of the environment or something else
>less important than how 'good' a game is.
>
>Let him go. Personally if that's the best complaint he can come
>up with, I'm going to buy the game for sure. Nyah-haaah!
>
>On the other hand I'll probably end up getting TA too and then
>making up my own mind. I'll try not to share my opinion though.
>
>
>Oh yeah, 'C&yah!C is clearly better than Tetris!'
Jeff Atwood
Jacob Hutson
first person too make a religous war RTS game is in biiiiiiiggggg
trouble.
Mark David
"Jeff Atwood" <jat...@a.crl.com> wrote:
>I played it for about 18 hours and it doesn't do anything but take C&C, RA,
>and WC2 and polish the gameplay and concepts. It's still very good, but
>ultimately the same damn old thing. TA has real physics, real line of sight,
>units with different physical sizes, veteran units, wind effects, etc.
Too bad it takes such a wonderful tactical environment and turns it
into a Hoard n' Rush. DR takes wit, TA takes rushing.
And BTW, Dark Reign simulates a 3D environment using layers.
> It is
>the same old thing done *better*. Key difference. Read the TA FAQ at
>http://www.totalannihilation.com/faq.html to find all the innovative things
>that it does. DR is just more sprites running around with the same old bad
>AI routines. If DR delivered on its AI promises (for both my units and
>computer enemies), I'd like it a lot more.
Excuse me, but the AI on DR is legions better. The command and
behavior system is much slicker and much more complete. You can't
compare the two; TA is eye-candy, DR is depth (plus is excellent
internet play).
>I never said multiplayer wasn't balanced, it is. Although I think the
>imperium has fewer useful units, they are roughly equal.
You're lost. DR units are very distinct and very balanced; it is TA
that has equal units.
Mark David -- Super Genius! | "Just because it says DVD does not mean
mad...@achilles.net | the quality is there."
dl...@freenet.carleton.ca | --David Garber, Senior VP, LIVE Ent.
Mark David
"Jeff Atwood" <jat...@a.crl.com> wrote:
>What I hate even more than this is the fact that this game was advertised
>with such great AI, and it's not even close.
Is it better than the AI in -any- game in the genre? Yes. End of
story. And if there are holes, the Tactics Engine is easily patched.
Just to have my group of tanks NOT take the scenic route to get to the
other side of a bridge sold me the AI right then and there.
Tim Chown
Jacob Hutson wrote:
>
> first person too make a religous war RTS game is in biiiiiiiggggg
> trouble.
Might as well get Salmon Rushdie onto it then as he already is...
--
Tim Chown | The Games Domain Review 900+ reviews!
Strategy Editor | http://www.gamesdomain.com/gdreview (USA)
stra...@gamesdomain.com | http://www.gamesdomain.co.uk/gdreview (UK)
Jeff Atwood
I'll pit a huge number of your TA units (but no big bertha/nuke) against my
heavily defended TA plateau. You will lose.
I'll also pit a huge number of your DR units (but no
artillery/rift/shockwave) against my heavily defended DR chokepoint. You
will also lose.
The key point here is that DEFENSE HAS PRIORITY in both games. If I took
artillery and rift/shockwave away from you in DR, what would you have?
Similarly, if I took away the big berthas, nukes, and LR artillery units
from TA, what would you have?
The tactical elements are the same. Given that the tactical elements are the
same, TA's superior 3D world model and physics makes the game infinitely
more engrossing. The only advantage of 2D is that it runs faster on slower
machines.
As for TA having "equal" units (this is directed to the Super Genius),
please explain this example of TA units to me (btw just a few of 50+ for
each side). How are they "equal"?
ARM level 2 kbots
zipper-- fast scouting bot, med laser
fido-- 4 legged assault bot, gauss cannon (flat trajectory)
zeus-- heavy fighter bot, lightning gun (direct LOS only)
invader-- crawling anti-matter bomb
eraser-- radar jammer
CORE level 2 kbots
pyro-- light flame thrower (very short range)
the can-- heavy plasma cannon (long range laser-like, INCREDIBLY slow)
roach-- crawling anti-matter bomb
spectre-- radar jammer
The only thing roughly equal is the bottom two. The other FIVE are
distinctly different, with different weapons, speeds, turn radius, fire
recharge rates, terrain modifiers, etc.
And IMO nothing is slicker than TA's command queues for every unit.
Infinitely simple and flexible. Easy to grasp, too.
Jeff
Mark David wrote in article <3429e7a8...@news.on.rogers.wave.ca>...
>"Jeff Atwood" <jat...@a.crl.com> wrote:
>
>>I played it for about 18 hours and it doesn't do anything but take
C&ga.cC, RA,
>>and WC2 and polish the gameplay and concepts. It's still very good, but
>>ultimately the same damn old thing. TA has real physics, real line of
sight,
>>units with different physical sizes, veteran units, wind effects, etc.
>
>Too bad it takes such a wonderful tactical environment and turns it
>into a Hoard n' Rush. DR takes wit, TA takes rushing.
>
>And BTW, Dark Reign simulates a 3D environment using layers.
>
>> It is
>>the same old thing done *better*. Key difference. Read the TA FAQ at
>>http://www.totalannihilation.com/faq.html to find all the innovative
things
>>that it does. DR is just more sprites running around with the same old bad
>>AI routines. If DR delivered on its AI promises (for both my units and
>>computer enemies), I'd like it a lot more.
>
>Excuse me, but the AI on DR is legions better. The command and
>behavior system is much slicker and much more complete. You can't
>compare the two; TA is eye-candy, DR is depth (plus is excellent
>internet play).
>
>>I never said multiplayer wasn't balanced, it is. Although I think the
>>imperium has fewer useful units, they are roughly equal.
>
>You're lost. DR units are very distinct and very balanced; it is TA
>that has equal units.
>
>
>
Adrian Roberts
In article <342cfa4d...@news.on.rogers.wave.ca>,
mad...@achilles.net (Mark David) wrote:
> "Jeff Atwood" <jat...@a.crl.com> wrote:
>
> >What I hate even more than this is the fact that this game was advertised
> >with such great AI, and it's not even close.
>
> Is it better than the AI in -any- game in the genre? Yes. End of
> story. And if there are holes, the Tactics Engine is easily patched.
> Just to have my group of tanks NOT take the scenic route to get to the
> other side of a bridge sold me the AI right then and there.
>
No way TA AI is currently the best, I managed to take a break from playing
TA yestarday (not an EASY thing to do :) and played a a 3 way DR skirmish game
with AI set to easy, (if "hard" is actually "easy", so I guess I was
playing on
"hard" or "medium") so here's my final impressions of DR AI, yes it can be hard
to beat it, but only if you never plyaed against war2 AI and dont know to stop
a quick grunt rush, because thats exactly what DR AI was doing, seems like they
just copied their AI from war2, all it did was sent tons of infantry towards
my base (always from the same direction), who were getting annihulated by my
line of plasma turrets, while I was buildinf an army of plasma tanks and
shreders,
then I came to his base and it was over in just 4 minutes, I got so bored
I didnt even bother with the 3rd AI, who for some reason decided to build a line
of turrets facing THE EDGE of the map, but hey I guess its all the same to
it, so
much for being "adaptive".
Vlad.
--
xoxoxo...Adrian
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adr...@blue-period.com
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hair color this week: Bleach Blonde with Lagoon Blue and Plum in front
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CD of the moment: The Crystal Method - "Vegas"
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reading right now: Piss Clear, issue five, version 3.0
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Become your own country.
Ben & Karen
Lost Dragon wrote:
> >But here comes one problem: I can hardly control so many units. Up
> >till now there's no combined arm strategy. Last mission (4) i built
> 40
> >tanks and rushed enemy base. --- maybe it's just me.
>
> Can more people comment on this? I hate tank rushing and am not eager
>
> to buy another "tank rush" game.
Most of the time it is not a very worthwhile strategy. Defenses are easy
to build, and the varied terrain definitely gives an advantage to the
defender (assuming that he/she places units effectively). You can crank
out level 1 KBots quickly, and while they are not great offensive
weapons (killed too easily), they can be deadly when holding their
ground on favorable terrain with support from gun emplacements- even
against superior forces.
You do need to expand, since resources are necessary to win, but rushing
strategies are not a very effective way of doing it.
-Ben