1
Off Topic / Gem's Identity Discovered!
« on: May 07, 2004, 04:08:33 AM »
Woohoo, E-stalking!
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2
General / Could Not Connect To Steam Network?
« on: May 06, 2004, 12:50:27 PM »
Bill wins, the Steam is saved.
3
General / Could Not Connect To Steam Network?
« on: May 06, 2004, 12:27:18 PM »
Naw, it doesn't get around to dling the platform.gcf :/
And the error screen is "could not connect to steam network. The post is just the errorlog.
And the error screen is "could not connect to steam network. The post is just the errorlog.
4
General / Could Not Connect To Steam Network?
« on: May 06, 2004, 01:43:55 AM »
Error:Steam error: SteamMountFilesystem(4294516113,3,0x221fbe0=,0x221fcf0) failed with error 1: Failed to get valid content ticket
Function trace:
CFileSystem_Steam::Mount()
Erk, help? Must... shoot... thangs.
Function trace:
CFileSystem_Steam::Mount()
Erk, help? Must... shoot... thangs.
6
General / Is It Just Me
« on: May 04, 2004, 01:36:20 PM »Quote
It is quite fun playing with LM regs. I still refuse to get on pubs and play though. There it's nothing but 'omg ur haxor' and 'ur nub' and 'i will hack j00r computer and deleter your pr0n' and so on and so on...Noooooo, don't deletar me pron.
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General / Whats Your Sensitivity!?
« on: May 03, 2004, 08:51:03 PM »Quote
I do not think that it makes any sense to post your sensitivity to compare, since it plays different on every computer even if you have the same numerical sensitivity.You can get an accurate measure of sensitivity by specifying mouse type, mouse acceleration yes or no and the windows sensitivity - it is not an arbitrarily defined value when plugging in the mouse.
Without all 3 pieces of information, anything people say here is fairly worthless though, granted (although mousetype can be replaced by DPI, as thats why we care about mousetypes).
9
General / Basic Kharaa Strategy
« on: May 03, 2004, 02:30:59 PM »
Oh noes, its another long-winded SaltzBad blurb
Yes it is. For those that still haven't noticed when and why I do these, its not because I have a huge burning desire to do so - although they are fun, and hopefully a few previously unenlightened people will suddenly become more of a contribuition to their team, the main reason is I have time and no ability to play NS right now
Okay, so what is the standard way of achieving Alien victory?
Aliens, unlike Marines, actually have to worry less about their opponents ressources - as long as Alien expansion itself remains healthy, and mostly tends towards the 2nd Hive, no amount of Marine tech will ever overpower it. Limiting marine expansion is more of an add-on - depending on chamber and team abilitys, it allows you to keep them at 1/2 nodes, to just chew down some nodes and draw manpower/ressources away from offense or to simply slow down their rate of tech. It is however not a priority.
Prioritys for aliens are the following Hives, Ressource Nodes and threatening locations. While the first 2 are obvious, the third simply means any location that allows easy access to the first 2 - it means you're best off quelling any offensive marine movement at its roots, before they get favorable positions. For example, while you might not have a ressourcenode in cargo on ns_tanith, you'd be an idiot to let them walk in there and threaten the possible hive location. In turn, the easiest way to defend the Hive location is to kill them before they enter cargo. Marines have a very easy time defending an open area - but taking it against opposition is challenging.
What does this mean for the Skulk earlygame?
The most common mistake in alien earlygames is to rush marine spawn, or rush their first 2 nodes. If you overpower marines by a ton, sure it will work - but similiar skill provided, you can expect mass Skulk deaths - filling up the spawn queue, and letting marines walk into vital places unopposed.
Instead, do the following :
- Realize which points need to be defended, and see if your team agrees (or simply point it out to them)
- If you see any of them undefended, walk over there to make sure no marines are approaching. Call for help if they are.
- If you are not busy on the defense, meaning an area is clear, inch forward and parasite building/gaurding marines in other areas of the map. Every few parasites or slight injuries, go back to heal. This will give you a sizeable advantage in defense, and really get on marines nerves :p
- Keep an eye on the map, what your team is doing and anticipate what marines are most likely doing. Remember, if an area is completely open/ungaurded odds are good the Commander will take advantage of this. Even if it means alot of running back and forth, its worthwhile checking spots out your team is missing.
- When possible, don't fight alone. While its not good for 2 Skulks to attempt biting the same target, it is always good to provide marines with 2 or more targets. Even if you're able to make it towards the marines alone, remember that unless you kill every damn one of them they can still walk in on the area you needed to defend. Especially against marines with reasonable tactics, you'll almost always need 2 Skulks or more. In an ideal teamplay situation, you'll have a gang of rampaging Skulks to come rundown any marine groups attempting to make a move. Much better than the common scenario of 8 Skulks slaughtered 1by1.
What does this mean for the earlygame Gorge?
Here, most of all, we'll have to expand on the ressource system a bit. Theres a whole host of common misconceptions about it - from the reluctance of de- and re-gorging to putting up RTs late, silly "instagorges" at the start of the game or the myth of the useful permagorge. Don't be fooled : too many Gorges do as much if not more damage to your team than too many lifeforms. Marines will not politely wait till the 12th minute to commence kicking your ass - they'll move out immediately, and theres little you can do to stop them from taking the ~3 closest nodes to marine spawn.
This means, more than ~4 nodes in the earlygame is worthless - (plus/minus one depending on the map and gamesize). Nodes outside Hives or their proximity are very, very likely to go down - and don't even try to blame it on your team. They have no reason to let you put the additional strain of defending something halfway across the map and even in a marine friendly position on them - it is after all, a secondary priority to a Hive. So the hives you get determine the nodes you put down - 1 node outside the primary hive, 1 inside the secondary and 1 outside the secondary.
Now that we've got the location settled, lets go about the timing. Its vital that you drop nodes immediately - a delayed node in the earlygame will mean delayed Fades and Hives. So going Skulking before placing your node is like giving the marines free RTs - you're lessening the time pressure on marines, letting them tech up more before they're forced to attack you (if they want to live, that is). So, go Gorge, drop the Node, and reskulk.
Why reskulk? We've already covered that - because defending that 2nd Hive and everything necessary to safely hold it is the main goal of the earlygame. Its the most common cause of Alien losses - half the team 'waiting' for RT/OC/Chamber res because they're such an economical Gorge, and in the meantime losing the 2nd Hive location. If you're one of the 3-4 Gorges that planted an RT, then your res don't matter now. Move on - your main job after that is to defend, not build. The peoples whose ressources matter are the other 50% of the team, who are getting res from your RTs added to their starting 25 to get Chambers, Hives and Fades as early as possible.
While permagorging is possible, theres little to no loss in not staying Gorge - you'll get some of those res back via RFK anyway, and when in doubt its always better to be a Skulk and help the team than be a Gorge staring at a wall. When things are highly organized, and noone is staying Gorge (luckily enough), ask your team if you really, really want to perma - one perma Gorge during the game is okay. But thats the problem, it has to stay a maximum of one - or you'll end up not having enough Skulks anywhere, and going down that quick road to 'ze lewz' again. And lots of gleeful marines spawncamping the hell out of you. Weeee.
*snip* Gotta cut short here and go home.
Yes it is. For those that still haven't noticed when and why I do these, its not because I have a huge burning desire to do so - although they are fun, and hopefully a few previously unenlightened people will suddenly become more of a contribuition to their team, the main reason is I have time and no ability to play NS right now
Okay, so what is the standard way of achieving Alien victory?
Aliens, unlike Marines, actually have to worry less about their opponents ressources - as long as Alien expansion itself remains healthy, and mostly tends towards the 2nd Hive, no amount of Marine tech will ever overpower it. Limiting marine expansion is more of an add-on - depending on chamber and team abilitys, it allows you to keep them at 1/2 nodes, to just chew down some nodes and draw manpower/ressources away from offense or to simply slow down their rate of tech. It is however not a priority.
Prioritys for aliens are the following Hives, Ressource Nodes and threatening locations. While the first 2 are obvious, the third simply means any location that allows easy access to the first 2 - it means you're best off quelling any offensive marine movement at its roots, before they get favorable positions. For example, while you might not have a ressourcenode in cargo on ns_tanith, you'd be an idiot to let them walk in there and threaten the possible hive location. In turn, the easiest way to defend the Hive location is to kill them before they enter cargo. Marines have a very easy time defending an open area - but taking it against opposition is challenging.
What does this mean for the Skulk earlygame?
The most common mistake in alien earlygames is to rush marine spawn, or rush their first 2 nodes. If you overpower marines by a ton, sure it will work - but similiar skill provided, you can expect mass Skulk deaths - filling up the spawn queue, and letting marines walk into vital places unopposed.
Instead, do the following :
- Realize which points need to be defended, and see if your team agrees (or simply point it out to them)
- If you see any of them undefended, walk over there to make sure no marines are approaching. Call for help if they are.
- If you are not busy on the defense, meaning an area is clear, inch forward and parasite building/gaurding marines in other areas of the map. Every few parasites or slight injuries, go back to heal. This will give you a sizeable advantage in defense, and really get on marines nerves :p
- Keep an eye on the map, what your team is doing and anticipate what marines are most likely doing. Remember, if an area is completely open/ungaurded odds are good the Commander will take advantage of this. Even if it means alot of running back and forth, its worthwhile checking spots out your team is missing.
- When possible, don't fight alone. While its not good for 2 Skulks to attempt biting the same target, it is always good to provide marines with 2 or more targets. Even if you're able to make it towards the marines alone, remember that unless you kill every damn one of them they can still walk in on the area you needed to defend. Especially against marines with reasonable tactics, you'll almost always need 2 Skulks or more. In an ideal teamplay situation, you'll have a gang of rampaging Skulks to come rundown any marine groups attempting to make a move. Much better than the common scenario of 8 Skulks slaughtered 1by1.
What does this mean for the earlygame Gorge?
Here, most of all, we'll have to expand on the ressource system a bit. Theres a whole host of common misconceptions about it - from the reluctance of de- and re-gorging to putting up RTs late, silly "instagorges" at the start of the game or the myth of the useful permagorge. Don't be fooled : too many Gorges do as much if not more damage to your team than too many lifeforms. Marines will not politely wait till the 12th minute to commence kicking your ass - they'll move out immediately, and theres little you can do to stop them from taking the ~3 closest nodes to marine spawn.
This means, more than ~4 nodes in the earlygame is worthless - (plus/minus one depending on the map and gamesize). Nodes outside Hives or their proximity are very, very likely to go down - and don't even try to blame it on your team. They have no reason to let you put the additional strain of defending something halfway across the map and even in a marine friendly position on them - it is after all, a secondary priority to a Hive. So the hives you get determine the nodes you put down - 1 node outside the primary hive, 1 inside the secondary and 1 outside the secondary.
Now that we've got the location settled, lets go about the timing. Its vital that you drop nodes immediately - a delayed node in the earlygame will mean delayed Fades and Hives. So going Skulking before placing your node is like giving the marines free RTs - you're lessening the time pressure on marines, letting them tech up more before they're forced to attack you (if they want to live, that is). So, go Gorge, drop the Node, and reskulk.
Why reskulk? We've already covered that - because defending that 2nd Hive and everything necessary to safely hold it is the main goal of the earlygame. Its the most common cause of Alien losses - half the team 'waiting' for RT/OC/Chamber res because they're such an economical Gorge, and in the meantime losing the 2nd Hive location. If you're one of the 3-4 Gorges that planted an RT, then your res don't matter now. Move on - your main job after that is to defend, not build. The peoples whose ressources matter are the other 50% of the team, who are getting res from your RTs added to their starting 25 to get Chambers, Hives and Fades as early as possible.
While permagorging is possible, theres little to no loss in not staying Gorge - you'll get some of those res back via RFK anyway, and when in doubt its always better to be a Skulk and help the team than be a Gorge staring at a wall. When things are highly organized, and noone is staying Gorge (luckily enough), ask your team if you really, really want to perma - one perma Gorge during the game is okay. But thats the problem, it has to stay a maximum of one - or you'll end up not having enough Skulks anywhere, and going down that quick road to 'ze lewz' again. And lots of gleeful marines spawncamping the hell out of you. Weeee.
*snip* Gotta cut short here and go home.
10
General / Any Tips For A!ming?
« on: May 02, 2004, 06:47:33 PM »
So you checked his ex_interp values?
11
General / Announcement Regarding Lm
« on: May 01, 2004, 08:13:40 PM »
Wow, Flayra pulled it off - he managed to include the "bloody newbcakes" demographic into the PT programm.
Err, I mean congratulations
Err, I mean congratulations
13
General / My Thoughts On Blink
« on: May 01, 2004, 11:13:41 AM »Quote
Even better if you don't hit forward between touchdowns, and just use strafe+mouseturns to accelerate additionally. The Fades groundspeed is extremely low compared to his blink speed, when you get a good blink hop going is when you move very smoothly - an observer might mistake that for having unlimited energy.QuoteYou need to at least blink-hop.This is a technique I use all the time as fade, if you just tap the mouse when blinking, you can get considerably far without using that much stamina at all. Very useful for when you turn a corner and there are 6 marines with lvl3 shotties.
But yeah, Fades and blink aren't all that overpowered. The reason you see any Fade that lives for any noteworthy amount of time constantly blink is because its an absolute must, he's no tank whatsoever. 2 good LMGers would shred him if he didn't, and a moment of stupidity or simply bad luck in maintaining speed will get him killed instantly against higher weaponry.
Back on topic, whats almost definitely going to happen is the upper 40% of the Fades crouching model to disappear (afaik his size and bounding boxes as of now are completely intentional - the height of his visual representation isn't, according to the bugtracker at least) - that little fix could reasonably be paired with something to make blink look blinkier. Like fixing the animations ("Oh no its flying mutant zombie jesus with spastic feet!"), or adding some sort of transparency while blinking (sort of like cloaking - a fast fadeout as you initiate blink, a slow fade-in as you release the blink button [in common use, anything but an adrenaline Fade would never really be invisible]).
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General / My Thoughts On Blink
« on: April 30, 2004, 07:26:38 PM »
But you're also almost always out, fatty. Plus, if you constantly blink you'll never get enough speed out of it to fly fast enough - meaning rape is coming your way. You need to at least blink-hop.
If you want to buff Skulks HP, yeah +5 or +10 works. +5 would mean Weapons 1 actually shaves off a bullet to kill a Skulk now, and it'd still be a reasonably subtle buff.
If you want to buff Skulks HP, yeah +5 or +10 works. +5 would mean Weapons 1 actually shaves off a bullet to kill a Skulk now, and it'd still be a reasonably subtle buff.
15
General / My Thoughts On Blink
« on: April 30, 2004, 02:10:26 PM »
Well, the Fade desperately needs his movement to stand a remote chance at survival at all - so whatever new blink you introduce, the fade needs to change groundspeeds to still be useful.
I think one of the biggest problems in balancing any current lifeform is the sheer amount of movement abilities they need to be able to consistantly catch a marine - nerfing marine strafing and/or crack hopping would lessen this problem a bit.
I think one of the biggest problems in balancing any current lifeform is the sheer amount of movement abilities they need to be able to consistantly catch a marine - nerfing marine strafing and/or crack hopping would lessen this problem a bit.
16
General / My Thoughts On Blink
« on: April 30, 2004, 10:14:02 AM »Quote
Electricity is a total non issue. Its range is just barely enough to cover one structure, its expensive and not terribly powerful.QuoteNS is well balanced right now...Well, if you consider über-shotguns, a third-hive spit, electricity that reaches across rooms, among many other things to be considered 'well balanced'
Uber Shotguns? So they kill structures well, which was kind of the point - and everything else good enough for a 10res gun. The HMG still performs markably better at killing anything that moves.
And Acid Rocket, why care? The third hive is strong enough to be useful, the lack of a good slot4 weapon for the Fade isn't a gamebreaker in any way, shape or form.
So Ben is probably pretty much right. The only thing that seems a bit neglected is 1 Hive Skulks.
17
General / Beta 4a Playtest
« on: April 28, 2004, 12:17:36 PM »
"Hi I'm Flayra and I'd like to post the gloomy message of Beta 4 sucking ass."
Get real Uranub :p
Get real Uranub :p
18
General / The Beta 4 Comment Thread
« on: April 28, 2004, 04:55:00 AM »
I doubt KFS is to blame for the textures - seeing as whole maps in the install are missing. Somebody just seems to have packed all the wrong stuff into the install file, and god knows why this is taking more than a day to fix.
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General / The Beta 4 Comment Thread
« on: April 27, 2004, 01:04:21 PM »
Beta 4 = the worst install file ever. Notice just how much is missing? Theres no ns_nancy in the beta 4 install, lots of missing texture file, ns_ayumi has 2 broken nodes (Cold Turn and Gorges Hideout) and lets not even talk about the balance changes :p
20
General / What Frustrates You The Most While Playing Ns?
« on: April 27, 2004, 05:24:07 AM »Quote
Oh that and I hate all the people in general discussion because they all seem to play aliens and want to nerf all the "useful" marine stuff even though its mainly the aliens that are unbalanced.You're kidding right? Aside from the Lerks movement exploits, Aliens are kind of at a disadvantage - to stand a chance at all, they need to get a 2nd Hive up and at the same time chew down enough nodes to disallow marine teching. And while they're at it, save enough of their own nodes (which with some basic knowledge are relatively soft targets) to field enough lifeforms against the amount of tech marines will inevitably field, node-chewing or no.
In public games, marines even have an organisational advantage. In competitive gaming, admittedly organisation is the aliens saving grace - delayed Skulk rushes, organized ambush spots near RTs and all that increase their chances at getting a good first 4. But they're still pretty weak.