Changes

Archzai

<div class="IPBDescription">PATCH</div> ok ... for one thing.. spec bug... is sucha pain..

the spec for humans that blocks all our shots at them

then for the aliens.. their spec loooks like a gestating alien.. so all they do is sit there.. all the marines come to knife it.. while the skulks come and rip us apart..


ALSO... its so hard for marines to beat aliens now.. for the past 20 matches.. ive never seen humans win... ive been both aliens and humans... for me... bein alien is a breeze

for humans.. ive been both GRUNT and CO... and its tuff... no matter wut.... skulks are easy to contain. but once they get fades.. its nuts..... cuz there is no waya CO can do EVERYTHING at once.. its hard.... ugh....

well im not gonna complain.. sorri if it sounds like it

PLS pLS PLS give ur insight <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo--> thx

o im looking forward to bile bomb bein fixed! even tho it'll make it harder for marines... at least it will be ale to do wut it was designed for .. to : R0x0r marines and marine building's b0x0rz <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo--> kekek

Takel

Thankfully, the patch has delt with a number of issues...now for my personal rantage about the situations you have asked:


As a commander, the bare minimum I find especially in a public server is a working mic and everyone can hear you clearly, decent FPS to you can actually see and respond quickly, and probably optional but prior RTS experiance especially ones that focus on micromanaging more than macromanaging. It's a hard job, which is an understatement in itself especially when managing a large team of peopels whom you do not know about and with a possible lack of teamwork. It's ahrd but ultimately rewarding when you had the direct hand in leading a team to victory

For marines, the key is teamwork. No marine that has gone out on a rambo style mission makes it to his original intended goal without first being intercepted by a lone skulk or gets dropped on by said skulk unless he/she was ungodly luckly and/or was facing a really bad kharaa player. Yes, we ahve heard stories of a lone JP/Shottie marine erasing an entire hive from existance without any additional outside help but hat is a one in a million chance. Don't expect it, don't even think that it'll work to be boothered with. It can but most likely will not.

True, marines currently have it kinda tough but then again, most serves/games I've played we've been running on LMGs and Pistols for quite a large portion of the game. Fades cost 44 RPs to evolve, not counting the 4 odd RPs to upgrade their abilities, the hive costs AND the costs of the chambers. Assuming there were 4 Fades that 'share' the cost of such a development (of course, it's a long term team split thing but I'm just taking the basic numbers)
2nd Hive: 80 / 4
Fade Gestation: 44
Upgrades: 4
Chambers: ~30
Total: About 90 RPs for EACH those 4 Fades, atleast 48 RPs...and you're expecting to steamroll them with a 1RP spawned marine with nothing?!? (except for his weapon/armour upgrades which would add about 240 for the team fully)
It is like, as many pointed out, a skulk taking on a HA/HMG marine. Sure, they are considered to be the toughest marine and should be compared to the allmighty Onos, but what's their cost? 1 for spawning in, 25 for the armour, 25 for the HMG. 51 RPs vs the 48 for a 20-ability upgraded Fade. 3 rps difference which is negated partially by the way both resource systems works. The marines concentrate everything into the control of their great commander, while the kharaa may have to deal with the fact that 66 precious resource points is locked away in some "Who needs a stinking Fade?" supa skulk who's been terrorising marines ever since it got silence/celerity and level 3 carapace instead of being invested into another Fade

As many people have stressed, the game is balanced. It must be the servers I play on, but I've seen a near 50/50 split for marine vs kharaa wins. Played as eithe team for about even times and while I enjoy the freedom of doing your own thing as a kharaa, the marines must follow their commander within reasonable demands, which is comsething few people are willing to do for the sake of teh rest of thea team. This is probably why some are seeing a vast difference in wins. The marine's style can repel experianced playes who are unwilling to work with weaker players since it'll make things much harder for them in public servers.

Fair enough, pound for pound, man per man, the aliens are better in a one on one but **obscenity**, this is NOT a team DM. Marine's strengths are in their combined teamwork. Their cone of fire allows for overlapping kill zones and a concentrated stream of bullets will kill any kharaa fast. The kharaa's strengths liesin the fact they can act alone and essentially overload the poor marine in the hot seat with persistant wide spread base attack messages. Also the fact that their attacks are precise means they can pick apart defenses easilly BUT get clogged down when multiple people take up the optimal fire positions while the marines can just overlap their cone of fire without much further thought and be able to add some help to any firing line even if it's just smashing into the walls...that just means that skulks wont be able to funnel down that wall without taking damage

Fades are NOT invincible. There is just the mental barrier formed when you see an alien bigger than yourself. it moves, makes a qushy noise when you step on it, you can fill it with lead and it'll die. There's a reason why your kill/deaths are not shown so take advantage of that. You are paddling upstream in fighting Fades while only having your spawn gear but it can be done with a bit of teamwork. Don't always expect to come out of a fade encounter still alive with your basic gear cause they spent more to get what they used.
Contrary to the popular genre settings, the Marines and not the kharaa have the numerical advantage. Given a willing team and the commander's mental strength, the marines can employ a swarming technique, using a precise phasegate network and multiple (and I mean -multiple-) infantry portals and just simply throw a flood of non-stop manpower at any location, taking heavy losses but recovering all those losses within 15 seconds, or using emergency beacons in times of particularly heavy losses for hasty reinforcements. This is in direct competition with the kharaa's hive fixed, dependant spawning method, creating an additional spawn slot with each new hive, thus the majority of the game will be played out with only one or two respawn 'slots', thus can lose in a battle of sheer re-spawning attrition. It will basically boil down to the kharaa desperately trying to inflict multiple times more damage against the marine flood can deal to them to attempt to balance out the influx of fresh bodies. The numbers on fieldnever changes BUT the numbers that can be replaced within 15 seconds can open up a massive gap. Of course, this only works in casual mode or in times of particularly heavy RP intake since the cost of respawning is only 1RP vs 8RPs for tournament. Add to that the fact that upgrades are permenant once researched means you have a force of relatively powerful units streaming into any location against a team that relies on individual unit advancement. Not good odds but the marines have to be prepared to die when necessary...which is of course the mental barrier. How did I get here? anyhow...next personal opinion

The marines have the ultimate base wrecking weapon: Siege Turrets. Simply put, slap 3 of these babies down within the sphere of influence of any fortifications or hives and babysit them and enjoy the fireworks because that area will quickly become a no-man's land before transforming into marine controlled territory if the siege works its magic. Add 7 more turrets for a particurly zealous commander and everything will go pop in a few seconds. This sphere of influence style of attacking is a MASSIVE advantage if the commmander knows how to use it. Simply put, it allows for entire blocks of the map to be sealed off behind mutiple walls, behind multiple lines of defense, behind a considerable response delay and behind a veil of confusion in determining where the turret can be. Not only will is destory every building within that range, it will PREVENT any possible forward bases being set up (you know, the defense chambers forward, mobile healing bases that are so handy for rampaging Fades) that are within a reasonable time range of your front lines. The Kahraa's closest equivalent response to this at the appropriate tech level? Adren'd Fades with Acid Rockets. 50 damage per hit, depending on the number, can raze a base's defenses within minutes BUT must be in direct LOF, and if you have the enemy in your sights, you are in theirs, thus opening themselves to any possible defenses in place, and need I say that the marine's equivalent to that is a HA/Gren Launcher marine?


Both teams have vastly different styles. The marines employ a tight coordinated attack plan, relying on their numerical and/or ranged advantage to win. They are also masters in bringing down a fortified zone FAST regardless of the density when given time to build up the siege equipment. Relying on one person to manage all the intel has it's advantages, allowing one with experiance and strategic thinking to determine the best course of action and providing a very powerful tool in reinforcing a party of marines. But it is a double edged sword, as all information in concentrated in one entity and the kharaa are more than adept to exploit that weakness. Marines livie for the future, their abilites are more geared towards an overall strategy, thus the commander has an unparalled vision of the map, what can be and to a limited extent, what is.
The kharaa enjoy a mental advantage. Fades are highly feared as they should be but perhaps feared too much. They also enjoy a nice advantage in melee combat, with an effective skulk being able to decimate a squad of marines who took a momentary lapse in their awareness. Their attack style can be a combination of both a focused, deadly assault with pinpoint accuracy with lethality to match, or a viral method: overloading the marine commander with countless attack zones while changing the attack targets rapidly thus forcing a decision to concentrate on a few key areas while losing control to various outposts thus resources in building them up, or spread limited attention thinly across the entire length of the map risking lower tactical micromanagement in favour of mantaining a grand image of the playing field. The kharaa live in the heat of the moment. Anything that happens they can 'see' and can thus respond to it. They are however, blind to what may happen if what will happen is silent


/end this fat rantage