Situational Awareness... Too Many Lack It
CombatJoe
Join Date: 2003-09-11 Member: 20768Members
Join Date: 2003-09-11 Member: 20768Members
<div class="IPBDescription">and how to use the other half of MT...</div> This is a request to the groundpounders out there to just be more alert about the status of your teammates and progress throughout the map. There are many tools at your disposal to make you more aware and thus be able to respond faster to kharaa movement and attack. While you are probably aware of these tools, you may not know how to use them to their full potential.
I started this thread because i've seen the lack of "awareness" reach critical highs in a few of my games. In one situation, repeated calls of "phase to the hive!" and "onos killing the phase gate" went unanswered, even though I had 14 marines at my disposal! The final moral blow was when one of my marines asked on voice comm, a minute later, "we lost the hive?" only to be followed by another asking "we had a hive??" ... it's times like those that i wish for a slay-all-marines button. This isn't an isolated event; it isn't that rare.
<b>Kill/Death Announcements.</b>
- These appear in the top right of the screen when one of your teammates makes a kill or is killed. That's swell right? More so than it seems!
- They show you what type of lifeform killed the marines; sometimes it's the <b>first alert</b> of the arrival of a fade or onos.
- If you see two or three fellow marines die in a row, without any kharaa deaths, then you need to realize that <b>your team has just lost a small battle</b>
What to get out of these announcements? Find out where those marines went down; when deaths occur so close together, they were probably all in the same area. If it's within a 10 or 15 second run it's almost always worth it to head over to the area and kill some injured and un-prepared kharaa: who may be busy destroying a crucial structure. Now, if the deaths came from three different onoses or fades, you may not want to rush in with just an LMG. Request orders or get the attention of the commander; if the area is important enough to the commander, maybe he'll want to drop a phase gate at your location so that a fresh attack can be launched to re-take or complete the objective.
<b>The Map</b>
- Pressing the map button, default "C", brings up a large map of the level you're on. <b>This can show you a LOT of information,</b> sometimes too much. Eventually you'll learn to distinguish common locations such as marine start and any bases that you have built up, and can then focus on other things.
- Objects in red are kharaa lifeforms and structures that can currently be seen by fellow marines or motion tracking.
- The small triangle shapes are fellow marines.
- When a marine dies his triangle will stay still for a couple of seconds before disapearing.
- You, and any men who are assigned to the same squad, appear as green, with a cone that shows your field of view.
This map is what you use to determine where battles have just been fought and won or lost. When you see or hear 3 marine deaths hit the Map button if you're in a safe spot. Look for three triangles close together, and probably not moving. Now look at how close you are on the map, <b>are you near enough to attempt to mop the area up? Secondly, what were your fellow marines probably doing in that area?</b> Some of this information you should already know, but i'll cover that later. If they had just finished setting up some turrets or a phase gate, it's usually worth it to run over and make sure the area is secure or finish what they started.
<b>Communications</b>
- Text messages: 50% of text messages have something important in them, therefore <b>you MUST read 100% of them.</b> It takes very little effort and <b>WILL make or break a victory.</b> Messages from your commander should be given priority. Messages with exclamation marks and lots of CAPS often mean something important, read them!
- Voice: Same situation as text messages, only you have even less excuse for ignoring these. Hopefully your commander has a microphone and uses it. <b>If someone sounds urgent or repeats the same thing a few times, it's probably important and requires immediate action.</b>
<b>Communications is where teamwork begins, and unfortunately, ends.</b> Too many people simply ignore what their teammates say and type, even if it's their commander. Some orders simply require you to drop what you're doing and GO. Namely, when a base is being slammed by aliens, or a phase gate is about to get taken down. By utilizing even the smallest amount of communication and the map button, <b>you should know where your teammates are and what they are doing at all times.</b>
<b>Motion Tracking</b>
- This is legitimate wall hack, i'm not going to go into the tactical/fighting abilities it grants; i'm going to stick to the strategic/overall effects.
- Looking at the map when motion tracking is active, you will now get to see all aliens that are moving and aren't cloaked. The benefits are...ridiculous.
- You can now confidently advance through areas 3x as fast knowing it is most likely clear.
- <b>While on screen motion tracking is disabled when constructing, you can still bring up your map using the "C" (default) button and aliens will still show up as normal.</b> This makes building safer and faster.
- Hives and nodes with the least amount of kharaa nearby can be singled out for expansion.
- <b>Kharra attacks can be EASILY anticipated, tracked, and intercepted.</b>
Again, the majority of these benefits require the use of the map and a general awareness of the team.<b> You do not have to wait for the commander to tell you that a hive location is about to come under attack. </b>If you've checked your map recently, you can see the 3 red contacts converging, and can do your team and commander a huge favor by taking the phase gate to meet the threat before it's too late.
I can not understate how usefull you can be to your commander if you use motion tracking properly. I was commanding a game on NS_Caged. We were doing very well, not enough to be comfortable, but at the current pace a victory was most likely ours.<b> I had one marine who really knew how to get the MOST out of motion tracking.</b> We had phase gates up at a few crucial points in the map, using motion tracking, this marine would phase to each location just ahead of a skulk rush, and dispatch the skulks without incident. He would even walk 10 seconds away from a phase gate to save a resource nozzle from destruction.
<b>He was doing this without me having to ask. I could literaly leave the rest of the map in his hands while focusing all my attention on assaulting the final hive.</b>
He probably let us finish that game 10 minutes earlier than we normaly would have, and with certain victory. Also, a heck of a lot less stress for me.
There is no excuse for not being aware of your team and what's going on around you. The large map is one of your most powerful tools in keeping up, the other tool is good communication. Follow orders. Pay attention.
I hope some of you picked up a tip from this post. Unfortunately, as is the case with many informative posts, the people who would benefit most don't know that these forums exist or don't read them. Please post if you have anything you'd like to add, correct me on, or even any questions about the game, i'm always happy to help.
I started this thread because i've seen the lack of "awareness" reach critical highs in a few of my games. In one situation, repeated calls of "phase to the hive!" and "onos killing the phase gate" went unanswered, even though I had 14 marines at my disposal! The final moral blow was when one of my marines asked on voice comm, a minute later, "we lost the hive?" only to be followed by another asking "we had a hive??" ... it's times like those that i wish for a slay-all-marines button. This isn't an isolated event; it isn't that rare.
<b>Kill/Death Announcements.</b>
- These appear in the top right of the screen when one of your teammates makes a kill or is killed. That's swell right? More so than it seems!
- They show you what type of lifeform killed the marines; sometimes it's the <b>first alert</b> of the arrival of a fade or onos.
- If you see two or three fellow marines die in a row, without any kharaa deaths, then you need to realize that <b>your team has just lost a small battle</b>
What to get out of these announcements? Find out where those marines went down; when deaths occur so close together, they were probably all in the same area. If it's within a 10 or 15 second run it's almost always worth it to head over to the area and kill some injured and un-prepared kharaa: who may be busy destroying a crucial structure. Now, if the deaths came from three different onoses or fades, you may not want to rush in with just an LMG. Request orders or get the attention of the commander; if the area is important enough to the commander, maybe he'll want to drop a phase gate at your location so that a fresh attack can be launched to re-take or complete the objective.
<b>The Map</b>
- Pressing the map button, default "C", brings up a large map of the level you're on. <b>This can show you a LOT of information,</b> sometimes too much. Eventually you'll learn to distinguish common locations such as marine start and any bases that you have built up, and can then focus on other things.
- Objects in red are kharaa lifeforms and structures that can currently be seen by fellow marines or motion tracking.
- The small triangle shapes are fellow marines.
- When a marine dies his triangle will stay still for a couple of seconds before disapearing.
- You, and any men who are assigned to the same squad, appear as green, with a cone that shows your field of view.
This map is what you use to determine where battles have just been fought and won or lost. When you see or hear 3 marine deaths hit the Map button if you're in a safe spot. Look for three triangles close together, and probably not moving. Now look at how close you are on the map, <b>are you near enough to attempt to mop the area up? Secondly, what were your fellow marines probably doing in that area?</b> Some of this information you should already know, but i'll cover that later. If they had just finished setting up some turrets or a phase gate, it's usually worth it to run over and make sure the area is secure or finish what they started.
<b>Communications</b>
- Text messages: 50% of text messages have something important in them, therefore <b>you MUST read 100% of them.</b> It takes very little effort and <b>WILL make or break a victory.</b> Messages from your commander should be given priority. Messages with exclamation marks and lots of CAPS often mean something important, read them!
- Voice: Same situation as text messages, only you have even less excuse for ignoring these. Hopefully your commander has a microphone and uses it. <b>If someone sounds urgent or repeats the same thing a few times, it's probably important and requires immediate action.</b>
<b>Communications is where teamwork begins, and unfortunately, ends.</b> Too many people simply ignore what their teammates say and type, even if it's their commander. Some orders simply require you to drop what you're doing and GO. Namely, when a base is being slammed by aliens, or a phase gate is about to get taken down. By utilizing even the smallest amount of communication and the map button, <b>you should know where your teammates are and what they are doing at all times.</b>
<b>Motion Tracking</b>
- This is legitimate wall hack, i'm not going to go into the tactical/fighting abilities it grants; i'm going to stick to the strategic/overall effects.
- Looking at the map when motion tracking is active, you will now get to see all aliens that are moving and aren't cloaked. The benefits are...ridiculous.
- You can now confidently advance through areas 3x as fast knowing it is most likely clear.
- <b>While on screen motion tracking is disabled when constructing, you can still bring up your map using the "C" (default) button and aliens will still show up as normal.</b> This makes building safer and faster.
- Hives and nodes with the least amount of kharaa nearby can be singled out for expansion.
- <b>Kharra attacks can be EASILY anticipated, tracked, and intercepted.</b>
Again, the majority of these benefits require the use of the map and a general awareness of the team.<b> You do not have to wait for the commander to tell you that a hive location is about to come under attack. </b>If you've checked your map recently, you can see the 3 red contacts converging, and can do your team and commander a huge favor by taking the phase gate to meet the threat before it's too late.
I can not understate how usefull you can be to your commander if you use motion tracking properly. I was commanding a game on NS_Caged. We were doing very well, not enough to be comfortable, but at the current pace a victory was most likely ours.<b> I had one marine who really knew how to get the MOST out of motion tracking.</b> We had phase gates up at a few crucial points in the map, using motion tracking, this marine would phase to each location just ahead of a skulk rush, and dispatch the skulks without incident. He would even walk 10 seconds away from a phase gate to save a resource nozzle from destruction.
<b>He was doing this without me having to ask. I could literaly leave the rest of the map in his hands while focusing all my attention on assaulting the final hive.</b>
He probably let us finish that game 10 minutes earlier than we normaly would have, and with certain victory. Also, a heck of a lot less stress for me.
There is no excuse for not being aware of your team and what's going on around you. The large map is one of your most powerful tools in keeping up, the other tool is good communication. Follow orders. Pay attention.
I hope some of you picked up a tip from this post. Unfortunately, as is the case with many informative posts, the people who would benefit most don't know that these forums exist or don't read them. Please post if you have anything you'd like to add, correct me on, or even any questions about the game, i'm always happy to help.
Comments
sticky?
stickierized
You have restored my faith in the intelligence of the NS Community. Congrats. If you're not a clan player I highly recommend becoming one.
I'd just add that if three of your team members have just been killed by Oni and Fades, reconsider going there to "kill some injured and un-prepared kharaa" if you're alone. <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Thanks Barb
if everyone knows these it will make NS a much more better game to play
mt is disabled while constructing?
never noticed.
never noticed. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Heh, sorry about this, but I really stop myself.
You do realise how ironic that is considering the topic at hand, dont you <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Two reasons why i'm not certain now are:
- I spend most of my time commanding.
- When I am building it makes more sense to have the map up; it lets you see all around you. A non-cloaking alien won't be able to sneak up on you.
Yeah... this is irony at its best... now i'm all worried that i'm wrong.
Two reasons why i'm not certain now are:
- I spend most of my time commanding.
- When I am building it makes more sense to have the map up; it lets you see all around you. A non-cloaking alien won't be able to sneak up on you.
Yeah... this is irony at its best... now i'm all worried that i'm wrong. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Don't worry, you're right.
As for the marriage proposal... i'll send you a PM *wink wink*
On many games my stats are the lowest. Why? i run around the map, rebuilding rts, welding, building, covering, scouting. The others kill, I usually recon or die.
This indeed has many uses, great explenation man
The mini-map is great for the same reasons (except smaller area). I just keep my eyes glued to that when I'm moving and if I see something red I look on my main screen. Great way to tell if skulks are coming.
Also, if an alien is in a persons view but they themselves don't see it, the map will.
Great post man <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
More than once i've been walking through a cluttered area and heard a skulk take a step but not be able to see them; sometimes i'd hit my map button and they'd show up nice and red. they still think they're hidden; it's pistol whipping time.
I would also propose to you, however I'm already taken <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
glad this is still getting views. i think it got stickied too fast, not too many people notice the stickies since they aren't changed much. need more people to read it! man i'm so far gone. this one girl, hitting on her.... soooooon.
*edit* third base with the girl. i think the trick is to NOT boast about how you can 'empty your pistol clip in under 2 seconds'
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I applaud this post and I've been waiting for someone to bring the issue of situational awareness to the table for a long time. I'm not sure why I haven't posted on it before because in my experience it's even worse than your second paragraph. What really kills me is when even the commander doesn't know.
I've had games where the aliens shut off a vital arterial pathway in the map that directly undermined the commanders strategy and we all just "kept playing". And what I mean by "kept playing" was that no one noticed the situation and kept trying the same strat until the fatal alien 1-2-3 knockout came.
You know your game was over a long time ago when this suddenly happens:
Step 1: Fades (and maybe even onos) show up and your team has no significant upgrades. *This is a primary sign (that people miss often) that something is very, VERY WRONG!
Step 2: All your outposts, especially hive outposts, get wiped out within a few minutes of eachother, resources are suddenly trickling, and the only reason the commander notices is because he was mindlessly buying the wrong stuff and now realizes he can't buy stuff anymore.
Step 3: There's a knock on your door, and its the alien team asking for their marine start back, or whatever last bastion of human life there is on the map.
I've seen this a million times and usually right after step 3 happens I hear people say "Aw man I think we lost." "OMG we lost?", and then I say:
Tanith version:
We lost a long time ago! Haven't you been playing? Weren't you there when the commander kept sending us to the reactor room, completely ignoring the rest of the map? Weren't you there when fades started showing up because it was a big fish barrel shoot'em up due to the fact that we had no upgrades? It was game over then, but we tried to explore the rest of the map but it was too late because umbraed fades were breaking up our squads and gorges had walled off cargo and chemical transport. Now that we can't even leave our base you are just now realizing that we lost? Do you even realize that it had nothing to do with starting at the double res (because some winning strats indeed start there)? The double res was just the "where". It was not the "why".
Nothing version:
We lost a long time ago! Haven't you been playing? Weren't you there when we rushed cargo and were ambushed, went back and got ambushed again? Weren't you there when we gave up on cargo and took over generator, went down into viaduct and were just beginning to start an outpost when three skulks came down and ate us just as we were finishing the phase gate? It was game over then, but we tried to take power silo and were quickly wiped out by one fade because we had no upgrades and no resources because even though we capped about 5 res nodes since the beginning of the game, we only have one now. Now that we can't even leave our base you are just now realizing that we lost? Do you even realize that it had nothing to do with starting with attacking cargo (because some winning strats indeed start there)? Cargo was just the "where". It was not the "why".
Caged version:
We lost a long time ago! Haven't you been playing? Weren't you there when we relocated to central processing and took sewer but got wiped out whenever we ventured through shipping access to the rest of the map? Weren't you there while half our team was chasing down a lerk sporing our outpost when suddenly fades came and started doing hit and runs? It was game over then, but we decided to weld the gate to ventilation and just as we were setting up a phase gate outside the hive an onos destroyed the phase gate at sewer. We got the hive down to low health but we took too long and the alien team crushed our squad once they figured out what we were doing. Now that all our phase gates are dead and we are breathing lerk spores inside our one and only outpost you are just now realizing that we lost? Do you even realize that it had nothing to do with relocation (because some winning strats indeed start with one)? Relocation was just the "how". It was not the "why".
Eclipse version:
We lost a long time ago! Haven't you been playing? Weren't you there when we quickly capped station access, power sub, and triad and went into computer core and set up an outpost, but skulks kept coming in waves killing the guard marines as new ones showed up. 10 deaths later we got the phase gate up but it quickly went back down again thanks to a sporing lerk and several carapaced skulks. It was game over then, but we took over eclispe hive and recapped triad and station access, completely ignoring horseshoe, south loop, and maintenance. When we finally go to take horseshoe a gorge is there behind a wall of lame, heal spraying a fade which broke up our squad and proceeded to hit and run our base. Somebody cried onos at the eclipse outpost and that's the last we heard of it. Now that everybody is crouching behind the guard rails at our marine start dodging acid rockets you are just now realizing that we lost? Do you even realize that it had nothing to do with taking computer core first (because some winning strats indeed start there)? Computer core was just the "when". It was not the "why".
I could go on but the point is that situation awareness is key, and if the only way you can tell that you are losing the game is that you are trapped inside your marine start with only an lmg to your name, then you, sir, are lacking in your perceptions. Get some situational awareness skills, today! Please read the first post!
you put into words the things that i want to be able to sit down in person with each member of my team and say to them, just to make sure that they understood. just so they would never repeat their mistakes again. the words have to go unsaid though, because you just can't talk to someone for 5 minutes over a mic and get the point across...
thanks for putting the thoughts into words relsan
1. I try to make it a point to use the players names, giving them a sense of purpose
to your strategy and are a integral part of your plans.
2. Dont yell at them unless it is completely necessary ie, getting through pg, moving
to WPs. Making fun of them, calling them names, causes them to loose respect for
you and not listen
3. If you have marines that like to get their 250 lmg bullets and 30 pistol bullets, tell
them that they will never use all that beforeammo they die and remind them of
the of the ammo and med hotkeys, and tell them you will get to their ammo and
med calls as soon as they show up on you hud. Doing this will stop them from
ammoing up all the way.
4. Keep it simple. With orders ie, telling them where to go, what to do same with
your plans the more something is complicated the higher the chance something
will go wrong and you will not be able to recover from that event.
5. Encourage team work, compliment your marines. This builds up their confidence
and boost their overall performance and makes them believe in their own ablities.
Drill into their heads there is saftey in nubers, sure you may be load and they can
here you coming from a mile away but a squad of 5 marines is a force to reckon
with if they got ups and constant support from the comm not matter how good
they are at shooting
6. Communicate. If you have a mic use it. If you don't then type. Just using WPs will
not cut it. I have seen games where all the comm did was sit in the chair not say a
single thing, type or mic at all and just give the marines WPs. Marines respond
better when they know there is some there in the chair and is watching them.
7. If it seems stupid but works then it isnt stupid you get the idea?
8. Learn your marines ablities how they react to things, their ablities to think and
shoot in situations
9. Try to out think and out smart the opposing team rather taking fights head on ie,
all out rush and sending your marines into the meat grinder (there are times for
this and other times when it should not be done) use the pg, be mobile, fast put
your gates in good places hallways, choke points ect.
10. Your attitude affects how your marines respond, bad attitude goes over and
influences the marines who are under your command.
well those are mine, please feel free to comment........
EDIT: hmmm I think this does not classify as Situational Awareness? Seems to deal with commanding, sorry
I'm not a clanner and I pub often btu I just assumed the "you mean we had a hive locked down?" people were stoned and/or drunk (maybe worse) and could not attend to such higher thinking like abstract cause and effect. (If three marines were killed by two onoses and they had LMGs I should not go to "x")
A lot depends on the server you play on. My favorite server is one that requires CD and has FF on. Not that i'm worried about cheating that much, it's just that players who know how to run CD are less likely to not know how to chat, respond, question, and learn. The inexperienced players that i do run into on that server are usually willing to listen, and the game experience is many times better.
most of the random public servers i join will have a few people who have learned the basics of the game (shoot, bite, onos, request jp/hmg) and show no intention of going beyond that. Even just two of these players can kill a game for a team.